Fake tenders: City trader charged with conning US-based consultant Sh12.5m
A Nairobi trader has been charged at the Milimani Law Courts with obtaining Sh12.5 million from a US-based financial consultant.
Mr Douglas Juma Onduso was accused of claiming that he had won tenders to renovate the Kenya Revenue Authority offices at the Times Towers and to supply the Supreme Court with files.
Appearing before the Milimani Law Courts Chief Magistrate Wendy Kagendo on Tuesday, Ms Onduso was charged with defrauding Mr Michael Maeri Sh12.5 million.
The money was wired to the accused through Western Money Union, M-Pesa and through his brother’s account at Equity Bank Limited to undertake the works.
Mr Maeri was represented by city lawyer Joan Mutile.
Mr Bernard Atancha, a defence lawyer, pleaded with the court to free the suspect on bond, saying he was not a flight risk.
“The accused has a young family that depends on him. I urge this court to grant him reasonable bond terms, he is not a flight risk,” Mr Atancha stated.
He said the accused had undertaken not to interfere with prosecution witnesses or prejudice justice.
“I urge this court not to issue punitive bail terms which the accused may not meet,” Mr Atancha asked the court.
Ms Mutile asked the court to consider the amount lost by her client Mr Maeri in the alleged fraudulent scheme. The court granted Mr Onduso a Sh3 million bond.
The judge directed state prosecutor Mr Anderson Gikunda to supply the accused with witness statements to prepare his defense.
The court also directed the accused to appear in court on January 23, 2023, for pre-trial directions.
According to charges filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions against Mr Onduso, the suspect had on diverse dates between September 19 and December 23, 2021, with intent to defraud, obtained Sh6,504,252 from Mr Maeri while claiming he had won a tender from KRA to renovate its offices at the Times Towers Plaza in Nairobi.
He was also accused of receiving Sh1,354,252 during the same period after alleging he had won another tender to supply files to the Supreme Court.
The third indictment was that he obtained Sh3,690,000 from Mr Maeri alleging he had landed a tender to supply water tanks to KMTC.
The accused allegedly forged and altered the Local Purchase Orders from the three government departments which he sent to Mr Maeri to convince him to release the funds to finance the projects.
