A 28-year-old construction worker arrested with Sh348,000 suspected to have been part of the loot stolen during a robbery with violence incident near Garden City Mall in Nairobi, has been charged with violent robbery.
Robert Walubengo Mutanyi is facing charges of robbery with violence contrary to section 295 as read with Section 296 (2) of the Penal Code, where he is accused of robbing Jinlin of Sh8.7 million on August 2.
Mr Jinlin-a senior finance officer at a Chinese construction firm, had borrowed the money from a friend to pay casual workers at the company before he was attacked and robbed.
The complainant was also robbed of his mobile phone worth Sh170,000, eyewear worth Sh30,000 and headphones.
Mr Jinlin was being driven back to an apartment behind the mall, when his driver stopped and stepped out of the car to buy some things from a nearby shop, leaving Mr Jinlin alone in the car.
He was attacked by three suspected gangsters during the night robbery. He was hit on the head three times with a beer bottle after he resisted an order from the three thugs who were ransacking the car.
The robbery was reported at the Kasarani Stadium police station and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) took up the investigations.
Mr Mutanyi was arrested the following morning in Kariobangi North Estate where he was found with huge sums of money in suspicious circumstances.
A Nyumba Kumi official called the area chief after he was informed that there was a man walking around with a huge amount of money and the chief informed police officers who arrested Mr Mutanyi.
The accused person had requested M-Pesa shop attendants if he could deposit Sh100,000 on his M-Pesa account and more money in different bank accounts, raising suspicion on the source of the money he had. The attendants informed the Nyumba Kumi official.
After the arrest, Mr Mutanyi was allegedly found with Sh348,000 in his pockets and a carrier bag, and a deposit slip showing he had deposited Sh100,000 at a bank.
Police also established that he had nearly Sh170,000 in his M-Pesa account and he could not satisfactorily explain the source of the money.
During interrogations, Mr Mutanyi confessed being one of the thugs who robbed the Chinese national the previous night.
However, when he was arraigned before Principal Magistrate Eric Mutunga, Mr Mutanyi denied the charges and sought lenient bail and bond terms through his lawyer Alice Maina.
He was released on a bond of Sh400,000 with a surety of a similar amount without an option of a cash bail. The case will come up for a mention on September 13 and the hearing is set for November 29.
Two M-Pesa shop attendants who Mr Mutanyi had approached while attempting to deposit the cash have been listed as witnesses in the case.
