Couple charged with illegally obtaining Sh913m

PHOTO: COURTESY

A couple has been charged in a Nakuru court with obtaining Sh913 million by false pretences.

Gabriel Kiguru and his wife Jane were accused of obtaining Sh913,233,054 from different individuals on diverse dates this year.

It is alleged they committed the offence jointly with others who were not before court.

Appearing before Chief Magistrate David Kemei, the two denied the charges.

The couple is accused of pretending to be in a position to help their clients trade online in foreign currency.

Being renowned business people, they had influenced prominent business individuals who deposited money in their accounts.

They were arrested yesterday by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Nairobi.

The public reported a firm by the name Sparkle Investments had obtained huge sums of money from them by pretending it would trade online with foreign currency.

Wachira Waiganjo, their lawyer, applied that the two be released on reasonable bond terms with an alternative cash bail. He said the two are traders whose business relied on them and holding them in custody meant its collapse.

But the bond application was opposed by the prosecution, who claimed to have compelling reasons. The two, according to the prosecution, were produced in court pursuant to the Constitution.

The matter before court, said prosecutor Hillary Songoyo, was complex as it involved huge sums of money.

Their case will be mentioned on August 25, 2016.