Woman charged for illegal forex brokerage, admits guilt
A woman, Pamela Atieno Moro, has been charged with two counts of operating an online forex brokerage business without a license from the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
Atieno appeared before Milimani senior principal magistrate Ms Zainab Abdul, where she admitted to both charges.
She acknowledged that she had carried out the illegal business contrary to Section 23 (1) as read with Section 34 A(1) of the Capital Markets Act Chapter 485 A Laws of Kenya (LoK).
According to the facts presented in court, Atieno and another suspect jointly carried out the business of an online forex broker without a CMA license between November 6 and December 29, 2022, within the Republic of Kenya.
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The second charge states that on November 29, 2022, Atieno obtained Sh80,000 from Miriam Wanjiru Kiarie with the intention of defrauding her, pretending she would invest the money in online forex trading, a fact she knew to be false.
After pleading guilty to the charges, state prosecutor Abel Omariba requested the court to reserve the presentation of the facts of the case to allow him to produce another suspect facing the same offense.
“I urge this court to indulge me to avail another suspect who acted in cahoots with Atieno in court for presentation of the facts,” Omariba prayed to Abdul.
Ms. Abdul allowed the prosecutor’s request and directed the accused to be remanded in custody to await the other suspect’s appearance in court on April 6, 2023.
It was revealed that Atieno had been out on a police bond before her arrest and subsequent arraignment in court.
The case will continue to be heard on April 6, 2023, when the facts will be presented.
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