A Milimani chief magistrate court will on June 10, rule whether to grant the police 14 days to detain six people among them four police officers and two civilians suspected stealing from an accountant Sh2.2 million in Utawala, Nairobi.
The Director of Criminal Investigations through a miscellaneous application said they are apprehensive that the suspects mostly the police officers will interfere with witnesses if released on bail.
Inspector Domnick Omondi wants Milimani Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo to detain the six pending conclusion of investigations.
Among the four police officers, three are attached at Kasarani police station while one is attached at Ruai police station
The three attached at Kasarani police station are Sergeant Antony Ndegwa, Corporal Daniel Lekakeny Sunkuli and constable Antony Mwendwa while the one attached to Ruai police station is Constable Simon Macharia Maina and the two civilian suspects are Lukas Magwaga and Young Wakise.
According to the court documents the six are facing three counts of stealing from a locked motor vehicle, conspiracy to commit a felony and handling stolen property.
They were arrested with a total of Sh468,000 believed to be part of the money stolen from a car belonging to Rophine International School’s accountant which was broken into at the parking lot of the institution.
‘’At the time of arrest, search was conducted and Sh64,000 was recovered from the 1st respondent, Sh5000 from the 2nd respondent, Sh49,000 from the 3rd respondent and Sh350,000 from the 5th respondent,’’ Omondi told the court.
According to police , on June 3, 2024 at around 1500hrs, the accountant Victor Peter Owino, made a withdrawal of Sh2,361,000 from a bank in Utawala meant to pay salaries of casual workers.
He drove to the school located within Mihang’o and parked outside the school compound and walked inside the school with only Sh161,000 leaving the rest of the money in the car which he locked safely. Minutes later, he went back for the remaining money but found it missing from the car.
The CCTV footage at the school showed a saloon vehicle silver in color with three occupants who were seen alighting and gaining entry into Victor Owino’s motor vehicle and walking away with a brown envelop believed to be containing the money.
The officers who were reportedly off-duty at the time of arresting the two civilians, are accused of failing to document the arrests in the occurrence book (OB) and informing their in-charge.
The suspects were later ambushed at Kasarani police station public parking.
The applicant argues that the 14 days will enable him pursue other suspects connected to the incident, recover the missing cash and retrieve and analyse the CCTV images.
‘’The extension of days sought in the application will allow the applicant’s investigators to complete investigations, particularly; pursuing other suspects who are at large and well known to them and also assisting in the recovery of the motor vehicle used in the commission of the offence and recovery of the remaining amount and also identify M-pesa shops where money was allegedly withdrawn by statement recording,” read the court documents.
The defence however opposed to the detention of the suspects for 14 days pending investigations.
They told Onsarigo that the application is intended to sanitize the delay and violation of fundamental rights of the suspects and frustrating them.
They urged the court to release them on bail.
“The prosecution has not indicated to the court compelling reasons why they could not be released on bond.’’
‘’This is abuse of authority and misuse of judicial authority,’’ they told the court.
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