Bond for trio in Sh58 million theft case restored

A court in Nyeri has reinstated bond terms for three men linked to the theft of Sh58 million from bank ATMs.

Nyeri Chief Magistrate Wendy Kagendo reinstated the Sh200,000 bond given to Paul Waweru, Dennis Museku and Collins Wahome.

She further directed that the three be set free, subject to fulfilling their bond conditions. They will also be reporting to the Anti-banking Fraud Unit based at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Nairobi every Wednesday.

On January 2, Ms Kagendo had cancelled their surety issued on December 31 for 14 days. She further ordered the suspects to be escorted to Muthaiga Police Station for further investigation by cybercrime detectives.

But yesterday, the suspects through lawyers Edwin Kimatu, Bonface Akusala and Maru Macharia, had recorded a consent with the DCI to have their bond terms reinstated.

Investigating officer Duncan Odhiambo, in his affidavit, had told the court that officers from DCI Nairobi had taken over the investigations from their Nyeri counterparts.

Cash bail

He said he was aware of the application by the suspects seeking to have their bond terms reinstated and that they be released on cash bail.

“We are appealing to the court to direct the trio to be reporting to the Anti-banking Fraud Unit every Wednesday as we carry out further investigations,” Mr Odhiambo said.

On December 31, the three were charged with stealing cash from Sidian Bank in Nyeri town. The charge sheet stated that they committed the offence on December 28 jointly with others not before court.