Nairobi house help in court for theft of Sh600,000

Violet Makotsi at the Kibera law courts.

Photo credit: Joseph Ndunda | Nation Media Group

A house help who allegedly stole Sh600,000 in foreign currencies has been charged in court with theft and handling stolen property.

Violet Mukari Makotsi is accused of stealing the cash – USD2,500, UAE Dirham 2,500 and 200 Sterling Pounds (approximately Sh600,000) from Assad Ahmed Hassan’s house in Parklands, Nairobi.

She is accused of committing the theft on May 31, 2022, contrary to Section 268 as read with Section 275 of the Penal Code.

The accused is also facing another count of handling stolen property after she was found with Sh30,000 in her house in Huruma estate in Nairobi and Sh46,000 in her M-Pesa account suspected to have been stolen.

Ms Makotsi is also accused of dishonestly retaining the cash in the course of stealing it when she was arrested on June 18.

The family went shopping

On the material day, the suspect had been left in the house taking care of his employer’s child when the family went shopping.

Upon return, they found the bag that contained the money and other valuables on the floor in one of the rooms having been ransacked and the cash stolen.

Also missing was the accused, whose phone was switched off.

The theft was reported at the Parklands police station and the police eventually traced Ms Makotsi to her house where Sh30,000 was recovered hidden in a flask.

The accused denied the charges before Chief Magistrate Anne Mwangi at the Kibera Law Courts.

She claimed the money was her savings. The suspect was released on a surety bond of Sh300,000. The case will be mentioned on June 27, 2022, for a pre-trial and fixing of hearing dates.