Three African Airline Association Employees Charged with Sh13.7M Theft

Three employees of the African Airline Association have been charged at a Nairobi court with stealing money amounting to 13.7 million from their employer.

Joshua Kipruto Ng’etich, Ernest Njenga Thiiru and Derrick Kiprono Ng’eno appeared before the Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Benmark Ekhumbi and denied the offence that was allegedly committed in 2022.

The trio were charged with conspiring to steal Ksh 13,756,798, the property of the African Airline Association.

Ng’etich, who was the company’s accountant, faced two counts of stealing and forgery.

He was jointly charged with Thiiru that on diverse dates between January 1 and November 21, 2023,  at the African Airlines Association Office, stole Ksh 13,756,798, which came to his possession by virtue of his employment. The court heard that Thiiru was the bank agent of the company.

Separately, Ng’etich was charged with Blue North Solutions Limited for stealing Ksh 4,220,069 at the offices of the African Airlines Association company situated in South C, Nairobi County.

He was further charged with forging a memorandum of association for Blue North Solutions Limited, purportedly to have been duly signed by Symon Peter Cheruiyot.

Ng’eno and Newmark Business Solutions were charged with stealing Ksh 4,580,340 from the African Airlines Association during the aforementioned period.

They denied the charges and, through their defence lawyers, prayed for leniency in granting bond terms.

Ng’etich and Thiiru were granted a bond of 2 million with a surety of a similar amount, with an alternative cash bail of Ksh 600,000, with one contact person each.

However, Ngeno, who was facing one count, was granted a bond of Ksh 1 million with an alternative cash bail of Ksh 300,000.