Woman risks jail for keeping Sh271,200 mistakenly sent to her M-Pesa

Elizabeth Karimi Muthoni

Elizabeth Karimi Muthoni at the Kibera Law Courts in Nairobi on August 16, 2021, where she was charged with withdrawing Sh271,200 erroneously sent to her M-Pesa account. 

Photo credit: Joseph Ndunda | Nation Media Group

A businesswoman in Nairobi risks spending two years in jail for keeping Sh271,200 erroneously sent to her M-Pesa account.

Appearing before Kibera Senior Principal Magistrate Philip Mutua on Monday, Elizabeth Karimi Muthoni admitted to withdrawing the money.

It was erroneously sent to her M-Pesa account by Mr Bakar Hussein Mohamed in Kitengela, Kajiado County, on July 14.

The court heard that Mr Mohamed was buying an M-Pesa agent account and that while depositing the money for the float, he mistakenly sent it to the wrong agent account.

The agent account belongs to Ms Muthoni, whose business is based in Kitengela.

KCB Bank had promised to reverse the transaction and credit Mr Mohammed’s account, but it failed since the money had been withdrawn by the accused.    

The accused told the court that she had only withdrawn part of the money and was in talks with Mr Mohammed on repaying him. 

After pleading guilty to theft charges, the court slapped her with a Sh200,000 fine.

She will be jailed if she does not pay the fine.