Boda boda rider gets a 7 year sentence for keeping mistaken Sh200,000

A Mombasa court has sentenced a boda boda rider to seven years in prison for retaining Sh200,000 that was mistakenly sent to his Mpesa account.

Mombasa Senior Resident Magistrate David Odhiambo handed down the sentence after 27-year-old Samuel Mwithiga Wanjiku pleaded guilty to the charges.

Wanjiku had been charged with intentionally withholding payment delivered erroneously, contrary to Section 35 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act 2018, following his arrest in Nyandarua by detectives.

He was later ferried to Mombasa for processing and was arraigned before the court on Wednesday.

In his mitigation before the court, he stated that after he had received the amount, he later informed his family that he had won a lottery, proceeded to buy a motorcycle, opened a hair salon for his wife, and gifted his mother Sh50,000.

"After I received the money, l blocked the sender and bought myself a boda boda since I had been employed by someone else as a rider. After my family inquired about the source of the money, I told them I had won a lottery," he informed the court.

He further told the court that he blocked the sender due to his frequent calls demanding a refund of the money.

The charges read that on June 14, 2024, in an unknown area within Kenya, intentionally and unlawfully, an electronic payment of Sh200,000 was erroneously sent to his Mpesa account which ought to have been delivered to Phina Habare Buya.

The money had been sent by the complaint from Texas, United States.

According to the Computer and Cyber Crimes Act, 2018, failing to reverse a Mpesa transaction done by mistake attracts a fine of Sh200,000 or a jail term of more than a year or both.

He was given 14 days to appeal his sentence.