Ailing old man inflates hospital bill to get extra cash 'for other needs'

An elderly man shocked his family after they discovered that he had inflated the hospital bill in a bid to extort from relatives. According to some relatives of the 78-year-old man who lives in Kawangware, the septuagenarian added some figures to his bill after being treated at a city hospital.

"We are shocked and totally perturbed by the behaviour of our father," said one of his daughters who resides in Ruiru, Kiambu County. The woman claimed she has been at the forefront of taking care of her widowed father.

She accused the old man of exaggerating the figures in order to get a refund from his children who established that their father had been billed Sh1,850 but not the altered Sh15,000 reflected on the receipts.

"Together with the hospital management we had an option of reporting him to police and eventually charging him in a law court but after family consultations, we chose to forgive him but warned him not to repeat that mistake," said the daughter.

The old man said that he had some urgent matters concerning debts that he wanted to settle and did not want to share with his children.

"You are a man and you know there are other things you can't always ask from your children so I thought if I alter the figures I will be able to get that money and settle the debts. I plead with them to forgive me and I will never repeat that," said the man.

He added that he had advanced in his age and could no longer do hard work, but that if he can get a job as a security guard he would gladly grab the opportunity.