Written by Nzomo Joyce & Were Kelly
Solomon Lelei was on Friday arraigned before the Milimani Law Courts, where he faced four serious charges related to theft, cybercrime, and money laundering. The case was presented before Principal Magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi.
In the first charge, Lelei was accused of stealing, contrary to the Penal Code. The charge sheet stated that on January 31, at an unknown location within the Republic of Kenya, he, together with others not before the court, stole KSh 999,561 from Elkana Momanyi, whose account is domiciled at Absa Bank, ABC Place, Kitale Branch.
The second charge involved unauthorized access, contrary to Section 14(1) of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act.
The prosecution alleged that Lelei and his accomplices illegally accessed Momanyi’s bank account via PesaLink, a payment network service developed by Integrated Payment Services Limited (IPSL), and fraudulently transferred KSh 2 million to accounts held at KCB and Cooperative Bank branches in Bomet, fully aware the transactions were fraudulent.
In the third charge, Lelei was accused of acquisition of proceeds of crime, contrary to Section 4(a) as read with Section 16(1) of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act No. 9 of 2009.
It was alleged that with intent to defraud, he transferred KSh 999,561 from Momanyi’s Absa account to his own account at Cooperative Bank, Bomet Branch, knowing or believing that the money was the proceeds of theft.
The fourth charge was the use of proceeds of crime, contrary to Section 4(b) as read with Section 16(1)(a) of the same Act. The court heard that Lelei later moved the KSh 999,561 from his Cooperative Bank account to his Airtel Money wallet through PesaLink, despite knowing or suspecting that the funds were stolen.
Lelei pleaded not guilty to all four charges. In his defense, he admitted that the account in question was his, but claimed he was not the one who carried out the fraudulent transactions. He told the court he knew who had committed the crime.
The case is scheduled for mention on August 28, 2025.
