By Kelly Were
A man accused in a SIM swap fraud linked to former OCS Samson Taalam has withdrawn his earlier guilty plea and now denies the charges.
Appearing before Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego at the Milimani Law Courts, Dennis Masavi Musyimi had the charge sheet read afresh and pleaded not guilty to fraudulently replacing Taalam’s mobile line, allegedly used to solicit money from the public for personal gain.
Through his lawyer, Mr. Kioko, Musyimi sought reasonable bail terms, arguing that he is a recent school leaver working at an M-Pesa shop in Pipeline and is not a flight risk. The defense also requested a downward review of the bail conditions, noting that the other two accused persons had already been released on a bond of Sh250,000.
“The other accused were granted bond of Sh250,000. We are asking the court to review the terms downwards in fairness,” Kioko told the court. He further appealed for leniency on behalf of the first accused, Nzomo Kimanzi, a mason, father of two, and breadwinner.
However, the prosecution requested the case be transferred to Court 7 for consolidation with a related pending matter.
Magistrate Alego directed probation officers to prepare a pre-bail report and scheduled the case for mention on August 26, 2025, when the report will be presented and further directions issued.
The alleged offence occurred between June 16 and 19, 2025, when Taalam’s phone line was in the custody of the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA), which was investigating him over the death of teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang in a police cell.
Musyimi is charged alongside James Mutemi Munyithya and Nzomo Kimanzi, who have both denied the charges. The trio faces a joint count of computer fraud under Section 26(1) of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018.
The matter will be mentioned on August 26, 2025 for the pre-bail report and further directions.
