Woman charged with conning city trader of Sh3.5m in business premises deal
A woman who allegedly conned a businessman of Sh3.5million while purporting that she was selling a shop at Luthuli House along Luthuli Avenue in Downtown Nairobi is facing charges of obtaining the money by false pretenses contrary to section 313 of the penal code.
Magdalene Wanjiku Maina has been charged with defrauding Peter Wainaina of the cash on diverse dates between November 28 and December 21, 2022 by falsely pretending she was able to sell to him a shop on the ground floor of the building.
Mr Wainaina is reported to have been looking for a premises to set up a shop within the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) when he met some property agents. During the month of November 2022, he was informed that there was a shop at the Luthuli House.
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He visited the building and inspected the shop and met Ms Maina who claimed to be the owner of the shop. They agreed that Ms Maina would sell the house to him for Sh4 million.
The two later visited a law firm and made an agreement where Mr Wainaina deposited Sh2 million to Ms Maina’s bank account. He later deposited Sh1 million in the accused person’s account and an additional Sh500,000.
Ms Maina gave Mr Wainaina the shop’s keys. Later, Mr Wainaina called the suspect to receive the remaining Sh500,000 only for her sister to receive the phone and claim that the family was not selling the shop.
When Mr Wainaina visited the family he established that the suspect and her sister, who is still being sought by the police, had colluded to allegedly defraud him.
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He reported the matter at Kamukunji Police Station and provided documentary evidence that he had deposited the money to the accused person’s bank account leading to the suspect’s arrest.
Ms. Maina denied the charges before Senior Resident Magistrate Mercy Malingu of the Makadara Law Courts. She was freed on a bond of Sh4 million with two sureties of a similar amount. She has an option of paying a cash bail of Sh1.5 million.
The case will be mentioned on February 22, 2023 before hearing starts on March 21, 2023. The prosecution has lined up six witnesses to testify against Ms Maina in the case, including Mr Wainaina, their lawyer and a police officer who investigated the case.
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