Nairobi News

HashtagNewsWhat's Hot

Teenager jailed for MPESA theft – VIDEO


A teenager who colluded with fraudsters to steal Sh17,100 from a Mpesa agent in Kibera will pay an Sh50,000 fine.

In default, Randy Otieno, 19, will spend a year in jail.

He was handed the penalty by principal magistrate Philip Mutua of Kibera law courts after pleading guilty to theft charges.

He’d been charged with stealing from Mascot Properties Mpesa agent at DC’s area in Kibera on December 13 contrary to section 268 as read with 275 of the penal code.

The court heard that Otieno went to the shop and asked the attendant Purity Arandi to show him how to use Jumia, an online trading application.

He later pretended to have withdrawn cash to a wrong number and asked Arandi to call Safaricom to have the transaction reversed but the customer care calls went unanswered.

Otieno called people he claimed were Mpesa customer care staff to talk to Arandi to help in reversing the alleged transaction.

The court was told that Arandi was directed to dial certain numbers and the cash was automatically transferred to a number registered to Godfrey Sande Makokha.

Arandi raised an alarm and members of the public apprehended Otieno and frogmarched him to Kibra police station where he was arrested.

In mitigation, Otieno said he was looking for school fees when he met the people online.

“You know we know what you do. Your days are always numbered and yours have lasted,” Mutua said.