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A Milimani court has convicted a 53-year-old woman for stealing Sh467,000 from a bank account of a man with mental illness in May last year.

Petronilla Kitony, a widow was convicted by Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina for stealing Sh467,000 and attempted theft of Sh968,000 from Peter Kamau’s account who could not transact any financial matters due to dementia.

The magistrate found the accused guilty of the two charges levelled against her by the prosecution.

“I have found the accused guilty of the two offences of theft and attempted theft of almost Sh1 million from the account of Peter Kamau held at Family Bank Limited (FBL),” said the magistrate.

Kitony, a mother of three had colluded with a relative of Kamau, who properly knew that the old man was receiving money from his children in the United States of America (USA) but had suffered dementia and could not undertake any bank transactions.

When Kamau’s family noticed that he had difficulties in coordinating and making sound decisions, his relative Elizabeth Kamau, through a law firm, wrote to Equity Bank and Family Bank where the former held several bank accounts on March 7, 2023, asking them not to allow any transactions on those accounts.

Bank letter

The magistrate noted that the law firm wrote to the two banks indicating that the account holder’s health condition could not allow him to conduct any transaction.

The firm asked the banks to flag all the accounts to stop the money from being siphoned by fraudsters.

The court was also furnished with medical reports and treatment notes from the doctor who was attending to Kamau.

The doctor who also testified in court confirmed that Kamau could not make any sound decisions and therefore those withdrawing money from his accounts “were just stealing it.”

Analyzing the evidence presented by the prosecution, the magistrate said the testimony of Damaris Nzisa and the doctor nailed the accused. Nzisa positively identified Petronilla as the one who walked into the FBL, Donholm Branch with a cheque for Sh968,000 drawn in her name on May 30, 2023.

She detained her until police officers from the banking fraud unit of the Central Bank of Kenya arrived to arrest her.

He said the accused had stolen the said Sh467,000 from the FBL, Ruiru Branch. Nzisa, who was a teller at Family Bank Donholm Branch, the magistrate noted, saved the siphoning of the Sh968,000 by Petronilla from Kamau’s account.

“The account of Peter Kamau had been flagged and all transactions stopped due to his mental condition,” the magistrate observed.

He said the accused stole the Sh467,000 claiming she was being paid by another woman who had borrowed the money from her.

 “The defence of the accused person is a concocted narrative that does not add up,” ruled the magistrate.

“I find you guilty of the offence of theft of Sh467,000 and attempted theft of Sh968,000 from the account of Peter Kamau who had a mental health challenge and could not transact in any of his bank accounts,” ruled the magistrate.

In mitigation, Petronilla said she is a widow and a mother of three.

She said she was terminally ill and prayed for a non-custodial sentence, adding that she had also reformed after spending 13 months in remand. The prosecution prayed she be treated as a first offender.