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Money expert tells how Kamiti inmate duped her of Sh7m

Money expert tells how Kamiti inmate duped her of Sh7m
Kamiti Maximum prison convict Hesbon Onyango Nyamweya and his mother Pamela Akinyi Wara at the Milimani Law Courts. PHOTO/Alphonce Mung’ahu

A finance executive officer yesterday narrated to a court how she was conned of Sh7.6 million by a Kamiti Maximum prison convict who was also working in cahoots with his mother in Lang’ata Women Prison.

Purity Karambu, in her testimony before the Milimani Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi, recounted the ordeal before the court on how she lost her money.

Karambu told the court that she was interested in real estate and intended to purchase a property that would be giving her income. While search for this information online, she fell into the hands of fraudsters who ended up obtaining Sh7,656,500 by false pretences.

“I wanted to do an investment which could give me an income, probably a commercial building which I could rent,” she told the court.

In the course of her search, she proceeded to a website known as Badoo Online. She navigated the page in search of available properties, got a number and contacted a guy who identified himself as James.

She told him of her intention to purchase a property and the contact said he could help.

The person introduced himself as a medical doctor by profession having a Kenyan-Tanzanian citizenship and working in South Africa, but during the time he and his colleagues had camped at Tarakea on a medical camp due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

Constant communication began between the said ‘James’ whose real identity she later came to know as Hesbon Nyamweya.

“In the first instance, he told me he was at the Kenya-Tanzania border and he had not processed the paperwork and due to that reason, he could not access his bank account for transactions,” Karambu told the court.

Though they had never met before, the sweet-talking ‘James’ demanded Sh38,000 to process the said paperwork, money he said would be refunded later.

The said doctor further called and informed her that the process had taken long and it could be finished the following day. He told her to give Sh5,000 for food and accommodation, which Karambu did.

‘James’ later informed her that he had fallen sick and taken to Rayaan Hospital in Kajiado. He requested for her assistance with the tests prescribed including that of Covid-19.

“I sent Sh48,000 for that purpose where I was later called by a guy who introduced himself as Dr Emmanuel informing me that ‘James’ had contracted Covid-19 virus and he needed a transfer to Sister’s Hospital called Sanitas in Tanzania,” she said.

‘Dead’ broker
Karambu astonished the court when she narrated how from the first money she sent on June 29, 2020, the story of money proceeded to the end of August, the same year, with her sending a total of Sh7,656,500 to this unknown individual.

Little did she know that, all along, the person she had engaged in ‘business’ with was a prison convict at Kamiti Maximum.

In the end of the ordeal, Karambu was called by ‘Dr Emmanuel’ and introduced to ‘Hesbon’ who informed her that ‘James’ did not make it.

From there onwards the numbers used to call her together with the ‘doctors’’ went off and this aroused her suspicion- she realised it was a con game.

“I started to investigate by myself and realised that I was conned. I reported the matter at Thika police station where I was referred to DCI Headquarters Kiambu Road for further investigations,” she indicated.

The investigations led to the re-arresting of a Kamiti Maximum prison defilement convict Hesbon Onyango Nyamweya and his mother Pamela Akinyi Wara. They were jointly charged in court with conspiracy to steal.

The charges show that on diverse dates between May and September 2020 with others who were not before court they stole Sh7,656,500 from Purity Karambu Laird.

The duo was also charged with money laundering. The mother and her son were charged that they unlawfully disposed of monies stolen from Purity Karambu Laird, engaged in a transaction to conceal the said monies while knowing it was proceeds of crime. Nyamweya further was charged with other counts of cheating.

Separately, Akinyi was charged with the offences of stealing and handling of stolen properties. In the said period of time she dishonestly undertook the retention of Sh7,656,500 knowingly or having reason that the money was acquired through theft.

Nyamweya is serving his defilement sentence in Kamiti Maximum prison as the hearing of the current matter continues. His mother is in remand at Lang’ata Women’s Prison awaiting the determination of the case.

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