- Magistrate says evidence adduced indicated an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit
- Karume was convicted in five other counts relating to obtaining money by false pretenses
Two Nairobi county employees and a businessman have been slapped with a Sh29 million fine after they were found guilty of corruption.
Esther Thongori, a Nairobi county clerical officer, Steve Otieno, a building inspector and George Karume, a businessman, were charged last year with conspiring to defraud Nairobi county government and a director of Elephant Real Estate Company Li Wen Xu a Chinese, of Sh 8.8 million.
They were accused of dishonestly receiving and retaining the money for building plans approval meant for county government.
“The three accused persons are hereby sentenced to 12 months in prison or pay a fine of Sh700,000 in count one in which they are charged with conspiracy to commit an economic crime,” ruled Milimani senior principal magistrate Victor Wakumile.
The Magistrate ordered Thongori to pay Sh10,155,100, Otieno Sh280,000 and Karume Sh17,783,886 or serve three years in jail.
“The prosecution has clearly demonstrated that the accused persons not only acted in concert and in common intention in committing an economic crime but they were also able to defraud the complainant,” the magistrate ruled.
The magistrate said the evidence adduced indicated an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit between some employees within the Nairobi city county Planning Urban Development department, brokers and gullible victims.
Karume who was convicted in five other counts relating to obtaining money by false pretenses and making false documents was ordered to pay Sh50,000 per count or spend six months in jail.
The complainant, director of Elephant Real Estate Company Li Wen Xu, testified in court that he desired to put a building comprising of 19 floors on his property in Kilimani estate.
The designs were not approved by Nairobi city county on the basis that only eight floors were permitted within that zone.
Xu said he was hooked up with Karume who had apparently executed similar assignments to a fellow contractor of Chinese descent.
He said he engaged Karume as an agent with instructions that he secures the approval at a fee of Sh7 million to get a bonus Sh1 million upon conclusion of the deal.
He however learnt that the money he gave to Karume was used to clear strange payments and not used for the approval when he visited the department of Urban Planning.