Two men have been charged with allegedly obtaining money from a woman claiming they would sell her precious stones.
The accused, Peter Kimuyu Njionji and Wenslaus Ngala Muhatia, are accused of obtaining Sh787,000 from Mercy Muthoni, a retired land officer. The two allegedly promised to introduce her to a business venture involving the buying and selling of diamonds.
On March 20, 2024, Muthoni reportedly received a call from Kimuyu, who introduced himself as an engineer and said he was referred to her because she was knowledgeable about land matters. Kimuyu claimed he was interested in investing in real estate, and the two arranged to meet at a restaurant in Upper Hill for a discussion.
It was during this meeting that Kimuyu allegedly introduced the diamond business to her. He further informed her about a South African expert, now the second accused, Ngala, who would assess the quality of the diamonds before they were sold.
On April 15, 2024, the accused and Muthoni, along with other individuals, met again at Village Market to continue their business discussion. Ngala, who had introduced himself as Harun Kigwandi, arrived late, claiming he had been at the Botswana embassy.
Ngala reportedly stated that he needed to expand the diamond business in Kenya and required more people to join. He also explained that he had to contact Kimuyu, the main agent in Kenya, to facilitate the expansion.
Convinced, Muthoni agreed to invest by first paying a testing fee of Sh132,000, with the rest of the money paid over the next two days. However, their constant demand for money raised suspicion, and in just two days, Muthoni had handed over a total of Sh787,000.
When she later inquired about when she would receive the precious stones to resell, the accused reportedly stopped picking her calls and switched off their phones.
She reported the matter to the authorities, leading to the arrest of the men at Uhuru Park. They were subsequently arraigned at the Makadara Law Courts, where they denied the charges.
