Ghost worker, his accomplice jailed for fraud

By WAHOME THUKU

A hawker in Nairobi obtained more than Sh1.2 million in salary from a State corporation he never worked for, the court heard.

James Musongo and his accomplice Peter Otieno will now spend four years in jail after being convicted by a Nairobi court.

They were found guilty of two counts of defrauding Telkom Kenya and stealing the money.

The two executed a scheme through which the firm paid Sh1,203,139 between June 2004 and January 2006. In 2004, Otieno, a clerk at Telkom, introduced Musongo 29, to Kenya Commercial Bank in Eastlands where he opened an account.

Musongo began receiving ‘salaries’, without the corporation knowing he was a second-hand clothes dealer at Gikomba market.

Produced letter

When the scandal was discovered and Musongo arrested, an ATM card and withdrawal slips were recovered from his house. He had received "salary" for 18 months. A letter by Otieno, introducing Musongo to the KCB was also produced. Musongo admitted the account belonged to him but denied he received money from Telkom Kenya. He said all he deposited into the account were proceeds from his business.

Otieno, who had worked for the corporation since 1982, told Nairobi Chief Magistrate Gilbert Mutembei he had never met Musongo. He said he was asked to write the letter by a colleague.

Otieno said he was not involved in the recruitment of Telkom Kenya staff or preparation of salaries and did not know anything about ghost workers at the firm.

But Mutembei said the prosecution, through its seven witnesses, had proved a case against the two men. The act of opening the account was a calculated move to defraud the firm.

The magistrate said it was beyond coincidence that the money was channelled to the account soon after it had been opened.

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