JOBS SCAM

Senior prison officer, four others deny 72 counts of fraud

The syndicate has allegedly been luring hundreds of jobseekers who are believed to have lost over Sh200 million.

In Summary
  • The magistrate released Nyamohanga, Ngere and Masiaga on a cash bail of Sh2 million or a bond of Sh5 million each.
  • Officers Mureithi and Kimathi were released on a cash bail of Sh500,000 or a bond of Sh2 million each.
Milimani law court
Milimani law court
Image: FILE

A senior officer at Langata Women's Prison and four others have been charged with obtaining over Sh200 million from members of the public under the guise of securing employment for them.

Grace Nyamohanga alias Nasra is accused of obtaining Sh300,000 from Patrick Boke by pretending she could secure a job for him at Nairobi Metropolitan Services.

She allegedly committed the offence with Masiaga Sylvester on February 11 at Industrial Area prison staff quarters in Nairobi.

Nyamohanga and Masiaga were charged with a second count of obtaining Sh300,000 from Winfrida Maroa by pretending they could secure a job for her at the National Land Commission.

They are said to have committed the offence on January 1 at Industrial Area prison.

Senior sergeant Jackson Mureithi, a prison officer, was charged with obtaining Sh350,000 from Samuel Njoroge by pretending he could secure a job for his two daughters at the Kenya National Highways Authority on November 10.

Mureithi was also charged with obtaining over Sh1 million from Kenyans at Industrial Area prison.

Peter Ngere was charged with obtaining over Sh3 million from another 13 Kenyans.

The court heard that Nyamohanga and Masiaga also obtained millions of shillings from 27 Kenyans on different dates.

The court was told that corporal Zachary Kimathi Cosmas, Nyaohanga, Mureithi, Ngere and Masiaga allegedly forged a deployment letter dated January 1, 2021 issued to Maroa purporting it to be issued by NLC.

 The five accused persons also faced four more forgery charges.

They appeared before Milimani senior principal magistrate Kennedy Cheruiyot and denied the charges.

Prosecution counsel asked the court to consider the amount involved and the manner in which the accused persons obtained it from different complainants. 

Defence lawyers, however, urged the court to admit the accused to favourable bail terms.

They argued that all the accused persons were not flight risks.

“Your honour, the first accused person works at Langata Women's Prison and she is a guardian to Masiaga who is a job seeker. Consider that the first accused is not in good health,” the lawyer said.

The magistrate released Nyamohanga, Ngere and Masiaga on a bail of Sh2 million with an alternative bond of Sh5 million each. Officers Mureithi and Kimathi were released on a bail of Sh500,000 or a bond of Sh2 million each.

The case will be mentioned on June 21.

On June 4, detectives arrested three more suspects in connection with the fake jobs syndicate in an operation that started two weeks ago.

The syndicate has allegedly been luring hundreds of innocent and desperate job seekers who are believed to have lost over Sh200 million in the scam after being promised jobs in various government parastatals and key security agencies.

Senior sergeant Jackson Mureithi Manyara and corporal Zachary Kimathi Cosmas are prison officers believed to have been recruited by the main suspect, Grace Nyamohanga.

Sergeant Mureithi had collected Sh19 million from 74 jobseekers and corporal Kimathi collected Sh5.7 million from 20 jobless Kenyans, totalling Sh24.7 million.

 

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