Three men charged with stealing Sh970,000 from an Equity Bank account belonging to Faith Wanjiku, 73, have been released on a Sh400,000 cash bail each.
Anthony Kaiba, Kelvin Maina and Joseph Kariuki denied conspiring to steal when they appeared before Thika resident magistrate Anne Maina on Wednesday last week.
The charge sheet says that on July 16, together with others not before the court, they conspired to steal from Equity Bank Thika branch within Thika town.
The first and second accused persons were also charged that on the same date with others not before the court, they stole Sh970,000 from Wanjiku's Equity Bank account.
State counsel Wamuyu Nguai successfully applied to hold the accused persons for three days for completion of investigations.
She said more suspects in connection with the case are expected to be apprehended. The magistrate ordered the three to be held at Thika police station.
On Monday, the resident magistrate ordered that the three be released upon paying the cash bail and that they be supplied with witness statements.
Kaiba unsuccessfully applied to have the cash bail reduced arguing that he was financially unstable and couldn’t raise the amount.
Maina upheld her decision saying that the amount was reasonable considering the magnitude of the matter before the court.
The case will be mentioned on October 16 when the court will set hearing dates.
The three were arrested on in Thika Tuesday last week by detectives based in Thika West police station according to a tweet by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
The DCI said that the money from the granny’s account was transacted in four series using the Equity Bank’s Eazzy App.
Antony Kaiba, Kelvin Maina and one Vivian Jelagat received Sh300,030 each. The remainder of the stolen money was transferred to various Equitel mobile numbers.
The stolen money was part of the payment the elderly woman received after selling her parcel of land.
