Woman sentenced to two years in prison for swindling a carpenter Sh200,000

A middle-aged woman handed down a two year jail sentence at the Eldoret Court.[File, Standard]

A court in Eldoret handed down a two-year jail sentence to a middle-aged woman, without the option of a fine, after she pleaded guilty to swindling a carpenter out of Ksh 230,000.

Marriann Wanjiru had promised to help Brian Majanja secure a well-paying security job abroad.

Principal Magistrate Kimani Mukabi found Wanjiru guilty of defrauding Majanja of his money by promising a non-existent overseas job.

She committed the offence on various dates between 20 May 2024 and 6 June 2024 in Eldoret City, Uasin Gishu County.

The convict is alleged to have convinced the carpenter, a father of one, to part with the said amount in exchange for a Sh 200,000 security job in the Middle East.

Mwanja narrated to the court how his friend linked him to the accused person in Eldoret to help him secure a lucrative security job in Oman.

"It's really unfortunate because, when I was introduced to Wanjiru in Eldoret city, she told me she was in a position to secure me a lucrative security or hotel waiter job in either Qatar or Oman, and asked me to choose which country I would like to work in, and I chose Oman,” stated Majanja.

The court heard that Wanjiru instructed the carpenter to send Sh 230,000 to her M-Pesa line on her mobile phone immediately, lest he miss the lucrative job opportunity in Oman.

"Little did I know that I was being conned. Imagine acting on her instruction, I deposited the said amount in my mobile phone line before sending it to her mobile phone MPesa line," Majanja explained.

He told the court that when he tried calling her number a few minutes after sending the money, he was shocked and in disbelief when she refused to pick up.

"After noticing I had been conned out of my money, I tried and tried several times, but she eventually switched off her mobile phone number, and she has never responded to my missed calls since then,” Majanja recounted in court.

In mitigation, Wanjiru told the Magistrate to have mercy on her, saying she was a mother of two children who depend on her for their upkeep.

She said her children were suffering since her arrest last year, claiming she was just an Eldoret City-based agent of a recruitment firm located in Nairobi.

In his verdict, the Magistrate directed Wanjiru to refund the money. The complainant is to return his money within 90 days of serving her jail term.

"You have been given enough time to refund the money, but you failed to do so. Let the court ruling be a lesson to others," the Magistrate warned.