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Woman jailed for defrauding firm of Sh6.9 million in fake tender promise

Woman jailed for defrauding firm of Sh6.9 million in fake tender promise
Image used for illustration. PHOTO/Pexels

A Nairobi court has sentenced a woman who posed as an employee of the defunct National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to two years in prison for defrauding Lopes Limited Sh6.9 million in a fake tender promise.

Caroline Rukia Ngozi who was convicted of three counts relating to fraud, obtaining money by false pretences and personation could not convince the court to give her probation sentence.

This is after the prosecution pleaded with the court to pass a sentence that would serve as a deterrence effect given the seriousness of the offence.

“Having gone through the evidence, I found that the prosecution proved their case and accordingly convict her of the offences,” Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi said.

The complainant’s lawyer had earlier on pleaded with the court to pass a harsh sentence against Ngozi, saying that the gravity of the offence demanded a harsh custodial sentence unlike what the probation had suggested.

She was charged in 2022 for presenting herself as an employee of NHIF and defrauding Lopes Limited Sh6.9 million by pretending that she would secure the said company a tender at the National Health Insurance Fund.

During the hearing of the case, businessman Suleiman Osman Noor told court that Ngozi was introduced to him by a friend.

He said the friend, identified as Ben, told him that Ngozi being an ’employee’ of NHIF was to use her influence to link him to a lucrative Sh238 million tender deal with the Fund.

The court heard that Ngozi later called Suleiman to demand Sh6.9 million to facilitate procurement of the tender.

She later disappeared after receiving the money.

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Carolyne Kubwa

Carolyne Kubwa

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