• The suspect, Joy Wangari alias Patricia Mereka, is facing multiple fraud charges over fake procurement deals linked to State House.
• Senior principal magistrate Stellah Atambo issued the summons on request of the prosecution that the medical documents Wangari produced in court be verified.
Image: FILE
A Kiambu court on Friday summoned the Mathare Hospital medical superintendent for cross-examination on the mental status of a fraud suspect.
The suspect, Joy Wangari alias Patricia Mereka, is facing multiple fraud charges over fake procurement deals linked to State House.
Senior principal magistrate Stellah Atambo issued the summons on request of the prosecution that the medical documents Wangari produced in court be verified before her bail hearing.
The magistrate directed the hospital superintendent to appear in court on November 15, to be cross-examined on the documents.
The court also allowed the investigating officer to verify the accused's medical documents at the hospital where she had said she was admitted for treatment.
The officer reported to the court that the medical documents were valid.
But the prosecutor said that they had fresh information which requires the hospital in-charge be cross-examined first before ruling on bail is delivered.
According to the prosecution, the accused has been on the run for one year after she jumped bail in other related cases pending at Milimani law courts.
In the Kiambu case, Wangari is accused of defrauding Charles Ng’ang’a Sh40 million and another Sh96 million on separate days on promises she would award him a tender to supply a military surveillance system.
She faces other counts of falsely presenting herself a State House employee.
Wangari is also accused of conspiring to steal 120 HP laptops valued at Sh96 million from the same complainant by means of fake tender dated January 9, 2018.
She is also accused of forging tender documents purporting them to be genuine, signed by Maj-Gen Fatuma Ahmed Gaiti.
In Milimani Wangari was brought before Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku on October 23, after she appeared before the Kiambu court on October 22.
The police arrested her for alleged links to the current case before Kiambu and escorted her to Milimani law courts.
She was ordered to be remanded at Langata Women Prison pending ruling whether her cash bail of Sh100,000 will be cancelled.
Wangari’s lawyer Njau Kayai objected to the directive by the magistrate.
Kayai said his client jumped bail because she suffers from a mental condition and could not fully understand the terms the court had attached to her bail.
But the prosecution disputed the medical report tabled in court saying that anybody could obtain documents from a doctor to support the claims they were making. Part of the report said Wangari suffers from aggression.
The prosecutor said if the defence insists on relying on the medical report, he would be compelled to make an application for the doctor to appear in court to be cross-examined over the claims.
It was also claimed that the suspect had been admitted to Mathare Hospital because of her condition, hence the reason for not appearing in court.
Mutuku also directed that the officer who arrested Wangari should file an affidavit, detailing the circumstances that led to her arrest.
It is alleged that the accused introduces herself as Ms Muhoro as she cons her way into millions, using government officials and departments, by luring victims with tenders, which turn out to be fake.
In the case at the Milimani court, she is charged together with Alan Chesang and Augustine Matata.
Matata is in custody after a warrant for his arrest was issued for skipping a court session.
He was locked up at the Industrial Area Remand Prison waiting for the court to rule on an application to reinstate his bail.
It is alleged that, on diverse dates between May 30, 2018 and August 12, 2018, jointly with others not in court and with intent to defraud, the accused conspired to offer a fraudulent tender, in the name of the Deputy President, for the supply of 2,800 laptops valued at Sh180 million.
The court heard that they obtained the laptops by false pretences from Makindu Motors Limited along Mombasa Road jointly with others who have not been arrested.
They allegedly presented fake local purchasing orders from the DP's office to defraud the complainants by claiming that the office was procuring the computers.
The matter has been adjourned on several occasions for many reasons, among them, the suspects’ absence.
Wangari, who according to prosecution and victims uses fake names to conceal her identity, masquerades as project manager or procurement officer at either State House or Harambee House Annex, besides leading a team of people masquerading as intelligence and military officers.