Prisoner cons woman out of Sh800,000 for ‘State House job’

A prisoner serving a life sentence has been charged with conning a woman out of Sh800,000 by claiming he would assist her secure a job at State House.

Patrick Shikure Amere admitted to defrauding Dr Selina Vukinu Ambe the money claiming he would assist her secure a job as a human resource manager at State House.

The court called for further investigations to bring to book his accomplices who have been conning unsuspecting members of the public of huge sums of money while in prison.

Chief Magistrate Wendy Kagendo directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to conduct a probe into the matter and to establish the offence under which Shikure was handed life imprisonment and how he secured a phone which he used to communicate with the complainant through Facebook and WhatsApp.

“In view of the seriousness of the offence, I hereby direct the DCI to investigate the matter deeper with a view to arrest those who were working in cahoots with the accused before me,” Ms Kagendo ordered.

The magistrate wondered how electronic gadgets, including mobile phones, find their way to inmates in the high security prison.

She ordered the DCI to file a comprehensive report on how prisoners are allowed to retain phones and other electronic gadgets if they are not conspiring with prison warders with a view of sharing the loot with them.

Dr Ambe’s details were retrieved from the office of then Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, where she had gone to seek employment.

The prisoner used a purported letter of appointment bearing the signature of the Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet Joseph Kinyua to defraud his victim.

Ms Kagendo was told besides the letter of appointment, an Executive Order Number 1 purportedly issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta was forwarded to Dr Ambe confirming that she had been appointed as a Human Resources Manager at State House.

The purported executive order, which was produced in court, showed that the complainant was expected to report on duty on September 9,2020.

The prosecution, led by Anderson Gikunda, said the convict had been communicating all through with the complainant via Facebook and WhatsApp through cell phone number 0758 185 891.

In a bid to hoodwink the complainant, the accused told her via WhatsApp that the original appointment letter would be dropped to her by a government driver.

The prisoner admitted to the facts as presented by the prosecution and opted not to mitigate, asking the court to pass a verdict as it deems fit.

Shikure was charged with obtaining the money on diverse dates between July 24 and September 11,2020.

When the accused was asked to mitigate he just stared at the magistrate.

Ms Kagendo observed that the accused is not remorseful yet he had drained the complainant’s account. “In my view, the accused does not appear remorseful at all and he appears to have nothing to lose since he is serving a life sentence.”

She ordered that the convict be remanded in custody until February 22 when the sentence will be delivered.