The
two suspects; Judy Muringe Mugo, 41, and Catherine Waithera Ruiru, 26, are
respectively the Marketing Officer and Receptionist for Goshens Real Estate
based in Kiambu's Ruaka Township.
In
the case reported at DCI Kiambaa offices on January 23, 2024, by the company
Director Mr Andrew Kirumba, the 1st suspect (Judy Mugo) was accused of duping
Goshens Real Estate tenants into disregarding the paybill and bank account
provided on their lease agreement forms while remitting monthly rent, and
instead insisted on them using the company office line which she manned.
Being
the marketing officer who also acted as liaison with the tenants and was charged
with the responsibility of issuing receipts to tenants who remitted their bill
payments, Judy declared the company paybill and bank account "no longer
functional", before directing that payments be channeled to the OPPO phone
and number that the company issued to her for marketing purposes.
After
receiving the hundreds of thousands in rent, water bills, and other payable
services through the office line, the 41-year-old would then transfer the money
to her two personal phone numbers, thereafter transacting through mobile
banking to her two accounts held at Family Bank.
To cover her trail and ensure that the management did not notice any irregularities, Judy would then conspire with the receptionist (Catherine Waithera), who manipulated numbers in the company's system to indicate that no tenants had any arrears.
For doing this, the 26-year-old partner in crime would
receive from Judy her unfair share of the stolen amount. This went on from
June 2022 to January 2024.
Hitting
the ground running, the detectives commenced investigations by recording
statements of all the affected tenants, then sought orders from a Kiambu court
to investigate the concerned banks and mobile money transactions.
When
the mobile transaction and statements were obtained, it was confirmed that
indeed the marketing officer would channel the rent received through the office
line to her own personal numbers 0705736*** and 0741***559, then later channel
the same to her
Family
bank account numbers 042000007*** and 052000008***.
In
the establishments, she had also transferred Sh3,442,200 to the receptionist
through her (Catherine's) mobile number 0712***840 and also her KCB account
number 1250143*** within the period in question.
The
painstaking probe also established that Judy, whose monthly salary was
Sh30,000, had on April 14, 2023, channeled Sh750,000 to AUTOCAD Motors bank
account, which AUTOCAD confirmed to have been payment for a Toyota Harrier Reg.
No. KBH 252S bought from their yard.
A search in the NTSA database confirmed that Judy was the legitimate owner of the car
until January 25, 2024, a date when Kiambaa detectives summoned her to their
offices. To defeat justice, Judy (who was released on bail pending the completion of investigations) thereafter transferred the vehicle to
Andronicus Mbuthia Kamakia.
With
these findings, the investigators sought a search warrant for the suspect's
home where the Toyota Harrier was found parked. The filed miscellaneous
application also sought orders to impound and detain the vehicle and treat it
as proceeds of crime, thus preventing its sale or use as collateral in
obtaining loans from any financial institution.
The
orders executed on March 6, 2024, also saw both suspects' phones and the desktop
used by the receptionist confiscated, and the same have since been submitted to
the forensic cybercrime unit for detailed analysis.
Audit
report in the well-orchestrated scheme reveal that the company lost a total of
Sh15,633,147.00. Further, it is established that the receptionist (Catherine)
manipulated figures in the system by inserting nonexistent Mpesa codes, before
Judy produced and issued fake receipts to the tenants which she obtained from a
cyber cafe at Ruaka.
With
the police hot on their trail and hell-bent on fleeing the country, the two
suspects recently obtained travel documents in record time, and detectives who
analyzed their communication believe they were determined to flee to Canada
where they have a contact.
For
their crimes, several charges including stealing by servant, conspiracy to
defraud, and computer fraud have been preferred.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
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