Milimani magistrate court, on Friday, March 28, 2025, released Maria Wangari Kamunge, popularly known on TikTok as Rish Kamunge on a Ksh5M personal bond pending investigations of her alleged fraud case.
In delivering the ruling, Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina said that the grounds the Investigative Officer (IO) Joseph Karanja stated in the miscellaneous application to detain her for seven days were not strong enough to hold Kamunge for seven days.
“I have not seen the existence of any compelling reasons warranting the detention of the respondent for seven days, the application is not merited and is hereby declined,” Chief Magistrate Onyina ruled.
Kamunge is accused of obtaining money under false pretences, contrary to Section 313 of the Penal Code, Chapter 63 Laws of Kenya, by promising some Kenyans overseas jobs.
According to a supporting affidavit in a miscellaneous application by the investigative officer (IO) Joseph Karanja, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) sought to detain Kamunge for seven days to enable completion of investigations.
Karanja stated that one Judith Bosibori, among other complainants, lodged complaints against Kamunge at the Nairobi Central DCI offices, citing having been defrauded by the TikToker.
The complaint stated that between January 1, 2025, and March 20, 2025, Judith Bosibori and others approached Kamunge, who runs an agency under the name Trustpin Verified Agent Limited, which had promised to help her travel abroad for work.
It is also said that they were each required to pay between Ksh200, 000 and Ksh300, 000 for the processing money, which was paid through Mpesa number 0759669552.
The complainant said that after they made the payments, Kamunge failed to honour her promises, and she went missing without a trace.
Kamunge, while in one of her offices in Nairobi, was traced and arrested by the members of the public on March 26, 2025, and taken to the Central Police Station.
Karanja stated that after word spread around about Kamunge’s arrest, many complainants came out at the DCI offices and recorded statements of her defrauding them.
The state prosecutor had earlier on told the court that releasing Kamunge would put her life in danger.
