Nairobi News

A casual labourer who allegedly transferred Sh25, 000 from a city hawker while promising to help him secure a loan with the Hustler Fund was charged with theft at the Makadara Law Courts.

John Muchiri Maina, a hawker, fell prey to a fraudulent scheme promising to help him obtain a Hustler Fund loan in Majengo slums in Kamukunji, Nairobi.

Charles Omondi Ouma, a casual labourer, approached Maina while he was resting in a chang’aa den and offered to help him secure the loan.

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Ouma charged a percentage of the loan as his fee, and Maina handed over his phone to him to dial the registration number.

Ouma instructed him to enter the PIN and assured him he would receive the loan promptly.

Maina later withdrew Sh300, which was bus fare to Kawangware, where he lives, and noticed that the Mpesa balance was Sh562 and more than Sh25, 000 was missing. He realized that his money had been stolen.

Ouma took off immediately, and the complainant reported the matter at the Shauri Moyo police station.

He obtained a Mpesa statement where he noticed that Sh25, 500 had been transferred to a mobile phone number suspected to be Ouma’s.

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Ouma had transferred the amount to a phone number suspected to be his own.

Ouma was arrested near California police station in Eastleigh and taken to Makadara Law Courts, where he was charged with theft.

Ouma was charged with stealing the money from Maina’s Mpesa account in Manjengo slums in Kamukunji within Nairobi on October 16, 2022, contrary to section 268 (1) as read with section 275 of the penal code.

He was released on a cash bail of Sh10,000 and will appear for mention on June 21, 2023, before the hearing begins on September 20, 2023.

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