Suspect in Sh122 million fraud released on Sh5 million cash bail
A Nairobi court gave a fraud suspect tough bail terms on Thursday after a spirited fight for his freedom.
Eliud Wachira Limuyu alias Eliud Wachira Gilisho was arraigned at the Milimani Court on Wednesday for stealing Sh122 million from his employer.
He was accused of stealing from NovoGames International Company between September 2020 and March 2024.
He denied the charges.
His lawyers pleaded for his release.
The magistrate granted him a cash bail of Sh5 million or a bond of Sh10 million with two sureties of Sh500,000.
The pre-trial hearing is set for November 10, 2026.
The accused was warned not to interfere with the complainant and witnesses and ordered to deposit his passport in court.
He had earlier on claimed he needed to be freed because he had a crucial work he was to do at the Office of the President which if not released will make the “government operations to stall.”
This forced the magistrate to seek a probation report.
He was arrested on October 19 in Nairobi ahead of the arraignment.
“On diverse dates between 18th September 2020 and 25th March 2024 in Nairobi within Nairobi County, being a director of NovoGames International stole [Sh122,000,000/=(one hundred and twenty two million shillings only) the property of the said NovaGames International Limited company which came into your possession by virtue of employment,” read part of the charge sheet.
The complainant Tonny Ketter told the court Gilisho had threatened him while he was in custody.
Gilisho has been posing as an MP aspirant for Buuri Constituency in Meru County.
The arraignment came after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) approved the fraud charges against the suspect.
Detectives said the fraud involved manipulation of the victim.
Gilisho claimed he was able to among others invent a weapon detector.
Ketter who is the victim is a businessman in ICT sector who also operates from South Africa and Angola.
He told the police the suspect had approached him through his former female employee Samali Kirika, who is a Ugandan and believed to be a willing co-conspirator in the scheme, and lied to him he was about to invent a weapon detector and all he wanted was small funding for its development before it could be rolled out.
What followed was a chain of deception and conning where the suspect managed to access the victim’s trust as a way of getting more money from him.
Gilisho impersonated several personalities, investigators say.
He fabricated elaborate digital personas, masquerading as high-net-worth investors from the US and France to legitimize the phantom technology.
They communicated with an interest of investing in the technology, which turned out to be a scheme to defraud Ketter.
They could often send emails to the victim while talking about huge amounts of investments into the said technology.
He claimed the Americans wanted to kill the victim and steal his technology. Operating under the fabricated threat of assassination, Ketter was forced into isolation, allowing Limuyu to exert total control over his finances and movements.
The suspect has declared interest in the Buuri constituency seat in the coming polls.
Police investigations have revealed he has a forged Israeli passport with several other visas including that of the USA.
The DCI has since sought clarification from the two countries Embassies.
