Man guilty of stealing elderly man’s money

An Embu man who stole an elderly man’s money from his account to pay a loan has been charged.

Robert Mwaniki was charged with transferring Sh3,850 from Sylvester Wachira’s M-Pesa account on March 16, 2019, at Kivwe village in Embu East subcounty.

He pleaded guilty and sought forgiveness before chief magistrate Maxwell Gicheru. The suspect requested to be allowed to pay back the money through instalments of Sh1,000 per month.

The accused said the complainant had entrusted him with his M-Pesa account pin number and that he would help him occasionally to operate it.

Mwaniki said he had a loan and he was being pestered to pay it. When he found it unbearable, Mwaniki said he transferred the money from the complainant's M-Pesa account which was equal to the loan to his account without his consent.

The suspect said the complainant was angry with him despite pleading with him to spare him and promising to repay the money. Wachira reported him to the police who arrested him. 

The magistrate instructed probation officers to investigate the accused's history to see if he is a criminal. A report will be tabled when the court resumes.

Mwaniki was returned to custody pending preparation of the report.