- Njeri allegedly received Sh5.6 million from Wahome to buy raw material for animal feed but switched off her phone and relocated to Tanzania.
- She claimed that the accusation arose from a domestic dispute.
A woman accused of defrauding a man of Sh5.6 million in a fake animal feed deal has been charged at a Makadara court.
Keziah Njeri was accused of obtaining the cash from her lover Antony Wahome by false pretense between November 23 and December 4 2019.
Njeri allegedly obtained Sh5,606,940 from the complainant purporting she would spend the cash to buy raw material for making animal feed for him.
Their relationship started in 2010 when they met in Nairobi.
Njeri, the court papers indicate, told Wahome she was a saleswoman at an Eldoret-based milling business but claimed the business was not doing well. She sought assistance from Wahome to start her own business and he advanced her Sh290,000.
In the deal that is the subject of the court case, Wahome paid her Sh20,000 a week as commission for buying maize in bulk and delivering to millers in Nairobi and elsewhere.
The business went well and he kept topping up capital until 2013 when the accused allegedly faked her kidnapping in which she allegedly lost all the capital.
In 2017, Njeri approached Wahome again and requested for help, and because they had a child from the relationship Wahome decided to hire her services again.
He gave her Sh1.2 million to start with and she travelled to Tanzania to buy raw material for animal feeds.
In October last year, she informed Wahome that she had landed a deal to supply six truckloads of raw material for making animal feed for a buyer and was handed Sh5.6 million to do the purchase.
She claimed the agreement was that she would be paid after completing the delivery, but she later switched her phone off and relocated to Tanzania.
Njeri denied all the charges before Makadara senior principal magistrate Stephen Jalang'o.
She told the court, through her lawyer, she had been cohabiting with Wahome and they have a baby.
She said they had been having domestic feuds and asked the court for a lenient bail and bond claiming she had been in custody for two weeks.
However, state counsel Joseph Mburugu told the court to consider she was arrested in Tanzania.
“The suspect was placed under mandatory quarantine at the Kenya Medical Training College in Taita Taveta after she was arrested at a hotel near Morogoro town in Tanzania,” Burugu said.
But her lawyer said the suspect was on a business trip and her being in Tanzania should not be interpreted to mean she was a potential fugitive from the law.
Jalang’o granted her a Sh1 million bond or an alternative bail of Sh500,000.
Hearing of the case starts on August 6.
Edited by Henry Makori