An online influencer is among two people charged with obtaining money by false pretenses.
Pascaline Peter alias Passy Ma Trevor and George Mutual Mutunga alias Imran were charged with obtaining Sh80 million from the public while falsely pretending the said money would earn a monthly return on interest of 23.5 percent.
They appeared before Makadara Law Courts in Nairobi.
Prosecuting Counsel Kaaria Joy Kawira told court the accused persons obtained over Sh80 million from 79 complainants while pretending the amount would earn a monthly return on interest on the amount invested, a fact they knew to be false.
The accused persons obtained the money on diverse dates between March 3, 2023 and August 30, 2024 at unknown place within the Republic of Kenya.
They were also charged with carrying out business as a collective investment scheme without a valid license issued by the Capital Markets Authority or Central Bank of Kenya and conspiracy to defraud contrary to section 317 of the Penal Code.
Court heard that on diverse dates between March 3, 2023 and August 30 of the following year, the accused persons represented as genuine sole proprietors of Passy Ma Trevor investment scheme carried out a business as a collective investment scheme without a valid license.
They pleaded not guilty to the charges before Makadara Court Principal Magistrate Erick Mutunga.
Prosecution opposed their release on bond pending the hearing and determination of the case.
In an affidavit to oppose bond, investigating officer Justin Mutwiri said the accused persons went into hiding when the complainants demanded for their return on investment and later switched off their mobile phones whereby it took intensive use of intelligence tactics from different agencies to smoke them from their hide outs deep inside Machakos County.
The investigating officer further told court the suspects are likely to interfere with major witnesses, don’t have a fixed abode, and are a flight risk.
The victims lawyer also asked court not to release the suspects on bond.
Court will on November 13, 2024, rule on whether to release accused persons on bond.
Passy Ma Trevor is alleged to have gone into hiding after carting away approximately Sh350 million from her victims leaving them counting huge losses.
In a well orchestrated scheme that involved convincing victims to deposit large sums of money into four different bank accounts across Equity Bank, Coop Bank, Stanbic Bank and Kingdom Bank, with a promise of up to 30% monthly interest, Passy Ma Trevor also falsely claimed she was running a successful real estate company that she used as a bait but once payments were made, she switched off her mobile phone and went into hiding.
Learning that Passy had tricked them into joining a ponzi scheme that had cost them an arm and a leg, the affected individuals teamed up and filed their complaint with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations who launched investigations leading to her being smoked out from her hideout in Kantafu, Machakos County.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that the 36 year old lady who displayed opulence across her social media outlets managed to defraud over 200 individuals, with 106 formal complaints already filed against her.
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