Kasarani man accused of drugging, robbing ‘kanjo’
A man accused of drugging a Nairobi County Government enforcement officer and stealing his phone before withdrawing Sh66,000 from his M-pesa account in Kasarani, Nairobi, is facing charges of stupefying, theft and electronic fraud.
Joseph Kariajahi is accused of administering a stupefying drug to Kenneth Kigen to facilitate the commission of the crimes, in contravention of section 230 of the Penal Code.
Karianjahi is accused of stealing Kingen’s phone worth Sh25,000 contrary to section 268 (1) as read with section 275 of the Penal Code.
The suspect was also charged with electronic fraud in contravention of section 84 (b) of the Kenya Information and Communication Act where he is accused of colluding with others to cause the loss of Sh66,000 stolen from Kingen’s mobile bank account.
The suspect is said to have committed the offences on October 29, 2023, jointly with others at large.
In the last charge, Karianjahi is accused of handling suspected stolen property after he was allegedly found with Kingen’s phone and Sh18,000 suspected to be part of the loot from the complainant’s mobile money account at the time of his arrest on November 3, 2023.
The suspect is accused of committing Kingen was refreshing himself at a wines and spirits outlet in Hunters area when he was drugged.
He later regained consciousness at a hospital, two days later where he found himself being detoxified.
He found out that his phone was missing and money in his Mpesa account had been stolen after replacing his
The complainant had given his M-pesa PIN after he was allegedly drugged and Sh46,000 was withdrawn in two transactions of Sh36,000 and Sh10, 000 then, and Sh20,000 was transferred.
Karianjahi is said to have deposited Sh10,000 to his wife’s account after allegedly withdrawing the money from Kingen’s Mpesa account.
He reported the matter to the police and the Mpesa agent where the cash was withdrawn helped in identifying Karianjahi before he was traced and arrested.
The suspect denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Helln Okwani of the Makadara Law Courts and Kingen offered to withdraw the two charges – stupefying and theft – where he is the complainant.
Kingen told the court that they had agreed that Karianjahi would give him Sh20,000 and the mobile phone but he had not received both the cash and the phone.
Karianjahi’s lawyer Mercy Mumbu told the court that the mobile phone had been kept by the officer investigating the matter and sought lenient bail and bond terms for the suspect.
The matter will be mentioned on November 17, 2023, for possible withdrawal of the two charges after Kingen’s phone is brought to court and after ascertaining that he has been paid the Sh20,000.
The court is also expected to receive the suspect’s social inquiry report from the state Department of Probation and Aftercare Services to help in setting bail and bond terms for Karianjahi before trial for the two other charges where the government is the complainant.
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