Kenyan charged with defrauding Rwandan businessman Sh400 million
A Director of an online business company who had been nominated to register a company by a Rwandan has been charged in relation to a $ 2.6m (about Sh400 million) fraud.
What started as a plan to expand the Rwandan-based Stay Online Limited (SOL), a financial tech firm in Kenya has ended up with Mr Kirimi Koome charged with conspiring to defraud the company of hundreds of millions of shillings.
Koome was accused of defrauding the proprietor of SOL, Mr Desire Muhinyuza,
Mr Muhinyuza had nominated Koome to register Stay Online Limited (K) while he regularized his immigration status in the country.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have been on the hunt for Koome since September 2023.
They also froze Koome’s bank accounts in a bid to ‘preserve the merchants’ money held in two bank accounts in Kenya’ namely the United Bank of Africa (UBA) and the Equity Bank Limited (EBL), Meru Branch.
Lawyer Danstan Omari for Muhinyuza urged the court to protect investors.
“The DCI and Judiciary moved with speed to protect the merchants’ money held in UBA and EBL eyed by Mr Koome,” Mr Omari told Milimani chief magistrate Lucas Onyina when Mr Koome was charged with four counts of fraud.
Mr Koome, according to the investigating team, could not be reached as his phone was always off and his residence remained a mystery.
This forced investigators to serve his advocate namely Samson Nyaberi with summons through WhatsApp.
The officers required Koome to appear at the DCI offices for questioning over allegations of stealing, conspiracy to defraud, and fraudulent disposal of Trust property.
But Koome was a no-show.
This prompted Milimani senior principal Bernard Ochoi to issue a warrant of his arrest.
The warrant was also based on an application by Lawyer Danstan Omari and state prosecutor James Gachoka.
The duo argued that the interests of investors needed safeguarding.
Omari represents the complainant, one Desire Muhinyuza who is the Chief Executive and Co-founder of Stay Online Limited Rwanda.
On October 17, 2023, Koome appeared in court six days after he his arrest at an Air BnB in Westlands.
He was charged with conspiring to defraud Muhinyuza, USD 2,619,583.27 (KSh400m), being merchants’ funds by falsely representing himself as the owner of the said funds.
The said offence is said to have been committed on diverse dates between July 10, 2023, and October 4, 2023, within Nairobi County, jointly with others not before court and with intent to defraud.
Koome further faced a charge of Stealing $100,000 (approximately Sh14,945,000), an amount that was the property of Stay Online Limited.
The monies had allegedly been entrusted to him to make payment of provision of taxes for the said company.
In addition, he is facing charges of making a false entry in a document for payment of $100,000 to his USD Account No. 1040184365654 domiciled at Equity, and giving false information to the police.
Koome denied all charges before Mr Onyina and applied to be released on bond through lawyer Cliff Ombeta.
Prior to his being arraigned, the police had obtained orders to freeze the withdrawal and payments from accounts in the name of SOL based at the United Bank of Africa.
Koome who had managed to secure his release on a cash bail of Sh500,000 with two conduct persons.
The case will be back in court on October 23, 2023.
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