Two officials of Wilson Mitumba Women Group accused of defrauding Kenyans over Ksh 175M in fake house deal will know their fate tomorrow.
The two, Mary Ndunge Mutuku and Mary Wanjiku Ndung’u, pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of forgery and obtaining money by false pretenses.
They have been detained at Capitol Hill Police Station pending the production of an affidavit by the prosecution to oppose their release on bail.
They appeared before magistrate Wendy Micheni of Milimani Law Courts where they were charged with various charges of fraud.
They were charged that in the period between the year 2015 and 2022 in Nairobi County w3ith others not before court, conspired to defraud Michael Kariuki and Salome Wanjiru Kariuki a sum of Sh 87,742,000 by falsely pretending that they were in a position to sell them houses at West Park Police estate knowing it was untrue.
They faced 15 more counts where they are accused of defrauding different people by forging documents uttering them to the suspects claiming that they are from the Ministry of Labour Social Security and services.
The two are being accused of obtaining millions of shillings from unsuspecting city residents under false pretenses of selling them houses at an estate they developed near Wilson Airport, within Langata area, Nairobi.
Through their Lawyers Robert Aswani and Geoffrey Omenke, the accused pleaded with the court to be released on favorable bond terms saying that they are not a flight risk.
The defense said that the accused were arrested before the investigations were concluded which is a violation of their rights.
Aswani who is acting for Ndunge said the dispute emanates from police and the said women group and the two entities have been involved in a long-term legal battle.
He said the colossal amount mentioned should not be considered in granting bail because the offenses are just mere allegations without facts.
Omenke acting for the second accused requested for her release on bail saying that she is a family woman and a Kenyan citizen.
“Accused should be released on favorable bond terms because the charges tabled against them are billable, unless there are compelling reasons to detain them, they should be released, no facts have been put by prosecution to deny accused bail,” he added
“The charges facing the accused persons are bailable,Article 49 provides for the right of an accused person to be released on bail pending charging or trial unless there are compelling reasons…,” said Lawyer Omenke.
He added that the prosecution was in a hurry to charge his client without completion of investigations.
“The normal legal procedure is to investigate a suspect first before arresting them but in this case, the accused were arrested before they were investigated, “added Omenke.
He added that their rights have been infringed upon from the time of arrest hence denying them bond would be detrimental.
Omenke said that the prosecution did not indicate whether the second accused is a flight risk.
