Nairobi man charged for spending erroneous Sh140,000 M-Pesa cash
Tony Munyoki Kimanzi was charged with withholding electronic payment
A hardware worker who allegedly withheld Sh140, 000 mistakenly sent to his Mpesa account was charged with intentionally withholding payment delivered erroneously contrary to section 35 of the computer misuse and cybercrime Act of 2018.
Tony Munyoki Kimanzi was charged with withholding electronic payment after receiving the money delivered to his mobile number by Abdikadir Muhumed from his M-banking Equity Bank account on December 25 last year, which ought to have been delivered to a different person.
Mr Muhumed was transferring the cash as he made some payments when he entered wrong digits, and the cash went to Mr. Kimanzi.
After realizing the mistake, he attempted contacting Mr. Kimanzi to refund the cash but the accused person had switched off his phone.
He attempted to reach the accused person for two days in vain prompting him to escalate the matter to the police.
He reported the matter at the Shaurimoyo police station, and it was taken over by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) which traced and arrested Mr. Kimanzi in Kitengela, Kajiando County where he was working in a hardware store.
Mr. Kimanzi denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Mary Njagi of Makadara Law Courts.
He was released on a bond of Sh100, 000 without an option of a cash bail.
The case will be mentioned on March 28 before hearing starts on June 22nd this year.
Mr Kimanzi was charged barely two weeks after a matatu driver who allegedly spent Sh110,000 erroneously sent to his M-Pesa account was charged with unlawful retention of electronic money contrary to section 35 of the computer misuse and cybercrimes Act of 2018.
Mr Geoffrey Waiyaki was on January 16th charged with retaining the cash delivered to him via bank transfer by Ms Lilian Muthoni on October 8, 2022 – which Ms Muthoni wanted to transfer to her M-Pesa account.
Ms Muthoni had withdrawn the cash from her bank intending to deposit the same to her M-Pesa account but entered one wrong digit and the money went to Mr Waiyaki. The case is still pending before the court.
