Woman Charged for Failing to Reverse Sh73,000 Erroneously Sent to Her M-Pesa

A woman is facing theft charges for failing to reverse money sent to her M-Pesa erroneously. Nancy Chonge Chepkemoi reportedly received Sh73,000 mistakenly sent to her from Vincent Maina Wambutu. She was charged with stealing the money contrary to section 268 (1) as read with section 275 of the penal code.

Section 35 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act states, “If you fail to reverse an M-Pesa payment that was made erroneously, you risk a two-year jail term, Sh200,000 fine or both.”

Wambutu says he was transferring the money from his bank account to his M-Pesa but entered a wrong number sending the cash to Chepkemoi. However, he remained unaware of the mistake until the next day when he tried to get in touch with Chepkemoi unsuccessfully. She had already switched off her phone.

Read: Woman Risks Jail Time for Declining to Reverse Sh271,200 Erroneously Sent to M-Pesa Account

Wambutu sent her a text and proceeded to report to the bank who later alerted him that Safaricom could not reverse the transaction as a portion of the money had already been withdrawn.

Three days later, the suspect switched on her phone and did not bother to contact Wambutu or send back his money. It is then that Wambutu reported the matter to Parklands Police Station. The cops were able to trace and arrest Chepkemoi before preferring the charges against her at the Kibera Law Courts.

She denied the charges before senior resident magistrate Renee Kitangwa and was released on a Sh50,000 bail. The case will be mentioned on December 21.

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