• The magistrate based his ruling on the findings contained in an intensive investigative report presented before court.
• According to the charge sheet, the accused stole jewelry, a title deed, a logbook and and money all valued Sh104,000,000.
Image: FILE
A Kibera court has cancelled the bond issued to accused persons in a Sh104 million case after it emerged the accused used forged documents as security to secure their release.
The magistrate based her ruling on the findings contained in an intensive investigative report presented before court.
"It has emerged that the purported letter from the Teachers Service Commission officer from Kisii county was forged, the man who signed is not an officer from Kisii county TSC office," magistrate Electina Riany said.
Shellomett Jerop, Agaziva Kenneth, Jackline Minayo, Patrick Mwangi, Caleb Nagomere and Eunice Akinyi are accused of stealing from Samar Alkindy on April 29, 2022 where they denied the charges.
According to the charge sheet, the accused stole jewelry, a title deed, a logbook and and money all valued Sh104,000,000.
Prior to their release, lawyer Danstan Omari acting on behalf of the complainant warned the court against releasing the accused on bond.
He told the court that the accused persons were a flight risk and they would not be easily be traced if granted bond.
Omari also told the court his client feared they might harm her if released.
However, counsel who represented the accused told the court that his clients were not flight risks and urged for their release on bond.
The permanent cancellation of the bonds comes barely a week after the same court suspended the bond and ordered Directorate of Criminal Investigations to establish the authenticity of the documents used to secure the release.
The investigations were ordered after the prosecution raised questions over the manner in which the suspects were released.
The probe found that the accused persons faked the figures on payslips deposited in court.
Following a confirmation by the TSC County Director, it was found that all the introductory letter heads of the sureties were not the same as those of the county.
The documents indicated that one of the accused persons was an employee of the Kisii county government as Principal Administrative Officer while the same person stood surety as a TSC staff in a different court.
Magistrate Riany faulted the defense counsel for representing some of the accused persons in the case despite of the anomalies.
"On August 26, 2022, the counsels representing all the said accused persons were present in court and this was the same day that the sureties did not meet the bond terms. Whether this was a conspiracy, this court cannot tell,” she said.
The magistrate directed that the investigating team take immediate action against the accused persons.