A man was today arraigned before Kiambu principal magistrate Justus Kituku charged with stealing Sh 81,000 from his friend after the latter won Sh800,000 from SportPesa multi bet gambling company. The accused Peter Obunyu Oloo was accused of transferring the cash from the complainant’s M-Pesa account to his between 17th and 20th this month at Ridgeways in Kiambu county and Westlands in Nairobi county, a charge that he denied.

According to the prosecution, the accused and the complainant Dennis Kivambe Ebichonda were close friends and Oloo is the one who even introduced and convinced the complainant to join the SportPesa gambling game. “The accused is said to have assisted the complainant to open a SportPesa account and so he knew the complainant’s M-Pesa and SportPesa personal identification numbers (PINs),” the prosecutor added.

The court further heard that Oloo requested the complainant to assist him with his phone on 20th of this month, to make an urgent call claiming his phone was faulty. However, on checking his M-Pesa account balance immediately the accused returned the phone to him, the complaint discovered that Sh 35,000 was missing. He then connected the alleged theft to another loss of Sh46,000 he claimed had happened three days earlier.

The prosecution added that the complainant immediately raised alarm attracting neighbours and members of public who advised the accused to request for his M-Pesa mini statement threatening to lynch the suspect and all the transactions in question were reflected. The mob immediately handed him over to security officers.

The magistrate released him on a bond of Sh80,000 with a surety of similar amount or Sh50,000 cash bail and scheduled the case to continue on April 21 this year. It will be mentioned on March 9.