A Milimani court has convicted a 53-year-old woman for stealing Sh467,000 from a bank account of a man with a mental challenge last year in May.
Petronilla Kitony, a widow was convicted by Milimani law courts chief magistrate Lucas Onyina for stealing Sh467,000 and attempted theft of Sh968,000 from the account of Peter Kamau who had been confirmed medically could not transact any financial matters due to dementia.
The magistrate stated that the court had found the accused guilty of the two offences levelled against her by the prosecution.
“I have found the accused guilty of the two offences of theft and attempted theft of almost one million shilling from the account of Peter Kamau held at Family Bank Limited (FBL),” said the magistrate.
Kitony, a mother of three had colluded with a relative of Kamau, who properly knew that the old man was receiving money from his children in the United States of America (USA) had suffered dementia and could not undertake any bank transactions.
When his family noticed that he had difficulties in coordinating making sound decisions, and understanding issues, his relative Elizabeth Kamau wrote to Equity Bank and Family Bank where Peter Kamau held several bank accounts on March 7 2023 asking them not to allow any transactions on those accounts.
The magistrate noted that the Law Firm wrote to the two banks indicating that the account holder’s health condition could not allow him to conduct any transaction.
The Firm asked the banks to flank all the accounts to avoid the money being siphoned by fraudsters.
The court was also furnished with medical reports and treatment notes from the doctor who was attending to Peter Kamau.
The doctor who also testified in court confirmed Peter Kamau could not make any sound decisions and therefore those withdrawing money from his accounts “were just stealing it.”
Analyzing the evidence presented by the prosecution, the magistrate said the testimony of Damaris Nzisa and the doctor nailed the accused.
Nzisa positively identified Petronilla as the one who walked at the FBL, Donholm Branch with a cheque for Sh968,000 drawn in her name on May 30, 2023.
She was detained until police officers from the banking fraud unit of the Central Bank of Kenya arrived to arrest her.
He said the accused had stolen the said Sh467,000 from the FBL, Ruiru Branch.
Nzisa, who was a teller at Family Bank Donholm Branch, the magistrate noted saved the siphoning of the Sh968,000 by Petronilla from the account of Peter Kamau.
“The account of Peter Kamau had been flanked and all transactions stopped due to his mental condition,” the magistrate observed.
He said the accused stole the Sh467,000 claiming she was being paid by another woman who had supplied a tender and had borrowed the money from her (Petronilla).
“The defence of the accused person is a concorted narrative that does not add up,” ruled the magistrate.
He dismissed her defence as a pack of lies and then proceeded to convict her.
“I find you guilty for the offence of theft of Sh467,000 and attempted theft of Sh968,000 from the account of Peter Kamau who had a mental health challenge and could not transact in any of his bank accounts,” ruled the magistrate.
In mitigation, Petronilla said she is a widow and a mother of three.
She said she was terminally ill and then prayed for a non-custodial sentence.
She disclosed that when she was held at the langata prisons for 13 months awaiting to deposit bail she trained in paralegal duties, guidance and counselling besides tailoring and believes she is reformed.
The prosecution prayed she be treated as a first offender.
The court reserved her sentence until he gets a pre-sentence report to establish whether she was involved in money laundering.Woman
The matter was adjourned to July 16, 2024, when the sentence will be delivered.