Nairobi News

Two suspected online fraudsters suspected to have conned a businessman of Sh100, 000 have been charged with conspiracy to defraud and obtaining money by false pretences.

They are accused of promising to supply him with 60 gas cylinders.

At Kibera law courts, Justine Murungi and Ruth Muthoni Macharia are accused of conspiring to defraud Robert Isiche on December 3, 2021.

They advertised the gas cylinders on a Facebook account where they purported to be carrying out a genuine business of selling gas cylinders in wholesale in Makupa, Mombasa County.

They claimed to be in a position to deliver the 60 cylinders to Isiche upon payment of the Sh100, 000.

The two are accused of obtaining the cash by false pretenses after convincing Isiche to pay Sh100, 000 down payment before the consignment is delivered, a fact they are said to have known to be false.

The complainant sent the cash via Mpesa.

The duo are also accused of being in unlawful possession of and unlawfully making use of an identification card belonging to another person.

They are accused of unlawfully using Kevin Brian Bundi Mwangi’s ID to register a Safaricom sim card and used the same to create a fictitious Facebook account in the name of Heritage Gas Wholesalers with intention of defrauding the general public.

They are accused of using the ID from December 3 last year until April 22 this year when they were arrested.

Isiche had seen an advert on the Facebook account and contacted the number shared and enquired about the cylinders he wanted to buy in bulk.

He was sent a quotation and directed to pay the deposit. He sent the money via Mpesa and the suspect stopped receiving his calls and later blocked him.

He reported the matter to the police and the two were traced and arrested in Nairobi.

The suspects denied the charges before senior resident magistrate Renee Kitangwa.

They were released on a cash bail of Sh200, 000 and an alternative bond of Sh300, 000.

The case will be mentioned on May 9.