Woman in court over theft of M-Pesa business phone
A 35-year-old woman who hired a car using her deceased sister’s national ID card then allegedly stole Sh194,000 from the vehicle owner’s M-Pesa shop the following day has been charged with impersonation and theft.
Veronica Monthe Nthenge was charged with presenting herself as her sister Cecilia Ndunge with intent to defraud.
The suspect was accused of stealing the cash and a mobile phone valued at Sh5,000 from the owner of the vehicle on the same day.
She introduced herself as Ndunge to businessman Kideye Mohamed Hashi on April 13 in Eastleigh a day after she hired his car using her late sister’s ID. She deposited Sh150.
M-Pesa business transactions
Hashi later discovered the phone used for the M-Pesa business transactions was missing immediately after Nthenge left his shop.
Nthenge is said to have thereafter transferred cash from the line to three different phone numbers including one registered to her late sister.
She was captured on CCTV cameras leaving the business premises.
The matter was reported to police and Hashi’s car was reported as a wanted vehicle then it was later intercepted by traffic officers in the CBD where Nthenge was arrested while driving it.
She was allegedly found with her ID and that of her sister in the car.
The suspect denied the charges before senior principal magistrate Angelo Kithinji.