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Suspect in Sh20.4 million Eastleigh fraud freed on bond

Walter Wekhanya in the dock at the Makadara Law Courts. (Photo: Joseph Ndunda)

By Joseph Ndunda | 26 Apr 2024

He is accused of conning Abdi Mohamed Ahmed and Said Yusuf Jamaa of Sh12 million and Sh8.4 million respectively on April 4, 2024.

A fraud suspect who allegedly colluded with two others to defraud two Eastleigh businessmen of Sh20.4 million purporting to be selling them 300, 000 US dollars at an exchange rate of Sh120 was charged over the same.

Walter Keya Wekhanya is accused of obtaining the money by false pretenses contrary to section 313 of the Penal Code.

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He is accused of conning Abdi Mohamed Ahmed and Said Yusuf Jamaa of Sh12 million and Sh8.4 million respectively on April 4, 2024.

Wekhanya is accused of committing the offence jointly with others who have been charged - Noor Abdikadir Hassan and Zeitun Aftin Huriye, and accomplices at large.

The businessmen were defrauded by individuals who were claiming they were in a position to exchange their money with the 300, 000 dollars knowing the same was not true.

Ahmed had met Huriye who informed him of the 300,000 dollars on sale in the black market and she introduced him to Wekhanya.

Ahmed met Wekhanya and the alleged dealer claimed he had USD300,000 which he was selling at Sh120 each and therefore he wanted Sh36 million only.

He (Ahmed) mobilized his two friends including Jamaa and they raised the Sh20.4 million which they allegedly gave to the dealer who left after promising to deliver the USD 300,000 the next day after the complainants raised the remaining amount.

Wekhanya and the other dealer did not deliver anything as they had promised and kept taking the two in circles as they sought to collect the dollars or recover their money before they discovered that they had been conned.

They reported the matter to the police and it was taken over by officers at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Starehe offices who arrested a man who was earlier suspected of having defrauded Ahmed and Jamaa.

The suspect confessed that he knew Huriye but had not received any money from the complainants and Huriye was summoned by the DCI.

She also admitted knowing the man in custody but allegedly clarified that the money had been picked up by another man who was to hand it over to the dealer.

Wekhanya is alleged to be the man who received the money from two businessmen to hand it over to the dealer who was the alleged custodian of the US dollars during the execution of the alleged fraudulent deal. The alleged dealer remains at large.

Wekhanya denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Hellen Okwani of the Makadara Law Courts and appealed for lenient bond and bail terms through lawyer Eunice Katila.

The suspect was released on a bond of Sh3 million without the option of a cash bail.

The case will be mentioned on June 7 for consolidation with that of the two others earlier charged. The hearing is set to start on September 7.