A man accused of conning Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina on Tuesday denied the charges.
According to court documents, the senator was conned on March 3 after seeing a post on Facebook by a trader who claimed to provide dairy farming services and build cowsheds.
Ole Kina called the phone number provided on the Pensmart Facebook page and spoke to someone by the name Njoroge who gave him a different phone number where he was to be reached.
The senator met with the trader at a location Njoroge claimed was his office before leaving for Ole Kina’s home in Narok. He showed him where he wanted a cowshed built.
After agreeing on a total cost of Sh320,000 the two agreed that the work would start immediately. The senator offered to make a downpayment of Sh200,000 immediately.
However, after two weeks, no work had began and Njoroge had gone missing. Several attempts to reach him proved futile but when he was reached, he made more empty promises.
The senator reported the matter to the police.
Njoroge refunded Sh50,000 to the senator confirming that he was unable to deliver but the rest of the cash had been used on costs for the project.
Police arrested the trader, Pensmart Chief Executive Officer Peter Njoroge, and arraigned him in court and he was charged with obtaining money by false pretences.
According to the charges, on March 3, 2019 at Eon Ekure in Narok county, the accused person with intent to defraud, obtained from Narok Senator Sh200,000 by pretending that he was in a position to construct for him a cowshed at his farm.
Appearing before Milimani chief magistrate Francis Andayi, Njoroge denied the charges. He urged the court to be released on reasonable bail terms as he is the sole bread winner in his family.
Andayi ordered the accused person to be released on Sh 150,000 cash bail.
The case will be mentioned July 1.
