Man who got M-Pesa cash by mistake charged with theft

 A man who received money through M-Pesa by mistake from a businesswoman has been charged with stealing.

Stanley Irungu was accused that on June 22 at Umoja in Nairobi he stole Sh39,000 wrongly sent to his phone. The money belonged to Milicent Atieno.

Police said that Atieno, who operates an M-Pesa shop in Umoja was given money by her customer to deposit in his number, but she wrongly sent to Irungu who was also her customer.

Irungu is accused of withdrawing Sh39,000 from Sh60,000 that was sent to him.

Atieno called Safaricom to reverse the Sh21,000 that was remaining in Irungu’s M-Pesa account.

She tried to reach to the accused to refund back the money since she knew him, but he ignored the calls.

The matter was reported to the police who traced him leading to his arrest.

Irungu admitted receiving the money and told the court that he was willing to pay back the money.

“Your honour i received the money and withdrew some of it. But i'm willing to pay the complainant her money," Irungu told the court.

Makadara senior principal magistrate Angelo Kithinji released him on Sh20,000 bail.

The case will be mentioned on October 1.