A middle-aged man and woman were on Thursday arraigned in a court in Nakuru to face charges of fraudulently collecting money from members of the public while pretending to be agents of an international organization offering scholarships to schoolchildren in marginalized areas.
According to the prosecution bench, Leah Kimani 31, and Douglas Mwaura 38, were arrested by police officers from Bondeni police station from their house at the nearby Kivumbini estate on January 13, and found in possession of fake documents belonging to an unknown international organization they alleged they were working for.
The court, under the precision of Chief Resident Magistrate Felix Kombo, heard that the accused were arrested following complaints and suspicion meted by members of the public, who tipped off police on the accused operations.
The prosecution held that the accused had been targeting poor families whom they swindled money from, claiming that they were registering their school-going children to benefit from education bursaries.
The magistrate was told that registration forms bearing a letterhead of a fake international Non Governmental Organization required details of a family background and the child’s age, school name, contacts, and academic performances were recovered from the accused.
The accused, the court further heard, charged varying amounts of a purported registration fee from informal settlements families in Nakuru town ranging between Sh500-2,000.
They were released on a cash bail of Sh50,000 each. The case will be heard on February 17.