A man has been arraigned before a Thika Court for allegedly transferring money from a neighbour’s account.
The court heard that the crime was committed on August 17, 2015 at the accused man's shop in Makongeni Market, Thika Sub-County.
The court heard that the accused, Robert Kamau, allegedly transferred Sh5,000 from Lucy Kaari's phone.
According to Kaari, the accused, who operates a shop adjacent to hers in Makongeni Town had borrowed her phone to make a call on the said date. He had earlier helped her register for M-Pesa account after advising her to use a simple pin-code that she could easily remember.
On August 20, 2015, Kaari reported the matter to the Divisional Criminal Investigation Officer’s (DCIO) office at Thika Town. The police immediately launched investigations that linked the suspect to the alleged crime.
According to the report given before Resident Magistrate Helen Mbati by Constable Joseph Cheboi, an officer who investigated the matter, the money was transferred to an unregistered number allegedly belonging to the accused according to the Safaricom data print out.
The number was off at the time of transaction but the Safaricom data shown that money was transferred to the phone number on the same date at 12:47pm.
Taking plea, Kamau told the court that he was not the owner of the said phone number and argued that an unregistered line could not be used for communication as per the new law governing the registration of sim cards.
Cheboi told the court that the accused was summoned to the DCIO’s office and was asked to settle the matter with the plaintiff but did not do so.
The case will be mentioned on November 11, 2015 and heard on November 26.