Former beauty queen denied bail in Sh300m hotel case

Sylvia Wambui from Nairobi County during the National Finals held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi on February 21st 2015. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

A former beauty queen who is being held for allegedly forging hotel ownership documents was yesterday denied bail.

Sylvia Wambui Karanja (right) had made a fresh application to be released just four days after a court allowed police in Nyandarua to detain her for seven more days.

Wambui, 28, is accused of allegedly attempting to defraud her ex-fiancé, Daniel Kariuki Kimani, of a Sh300 million hotel.

In an application made under a certificate of urgency before Kinangop Resident Magistrate Georgina Opakasi, Wambui said she was sickly and could die if not released to seek medical care.

“The applicant’s right to be charged in a court of law and the right against detention for over 24 hours have been and continue to be infringed as she has now been in police custody for more than 72 hours without any intention to charge her or such information as to the reasons for her arrest and detention,” an affidavit signed by her lawyer Dennis Mosota stated.

The magistrate, however, refused to grant the request after the prosecution objected to the application.

Earlier, Mr Mosota had written to Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji to protest the manner in which his office and the police had handled his client following her arrest in Eldoret last Friday.