An official of a self-help group has been charged with defrauding three members of Sh70,000 after they made contributions for investment.
Monica Lwangu is accused of defrauding Felister Kioko of Sh14,000 at Park Road in Starehe Sub County, Nairobi on various dates between October 2022 and March 2023.
Ms Lwangu is facing a second count of conspiracy to commit an offence, where she is accused of conspiring with others at large to commit an offence of fraud in which they allegedly obtained Sh14,000 from Rose Salamba during the same period.
In the third count, Ms Lwangu is accused of conspiring with accomplices to obtain Sh42,000 from Josephine Nzioka by fraudulent means.
The suspect and the complainants got together in October last year and together with others formed the chama with a membership of more than 10 members.
The members wanted to buy a piece of land in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, to build rental apartments to increase their income. They agreed to contribute Sh700 each a week to the project.
After a few months, members began to suspect something was wrong when officials stopped holding physical meetings and directed members to send their cash directly to Ms Lwangu, the treasurer.
When some members complained about this, they were removed from the group and demanded a refund of the money they had contributed during their active membership.
However, the said officials stopped receiving calls from the aggrieved members and allegedly refused to refund the money.
The complainants reported the matter to Pangani Police Station, which led to the arrest of Ms Lwangu.
Ms Lwangu denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Gerald Mutiso of the Makadara Law Courts and, through a lawyer, applied for lenient bail conditions.
She was released on a Sh50,000 bond. The case will come up on 27 July for pre-trial and trial dates.
