This archive report was first published on 25 July 2019.
On July 17, 2019, Patricia Wanjiku Warugongo, a clearing and forwarding sales agent, was on her way from a meeting with a client who had paid her Sh370,000 in cash. Unbeknownst to her, her life was about to take a dramatic turn.
Warugongo ran into Bernard Mbatia Maina, who pretended to ask for directions to a children's home. It was Maina who reportedly administered a benzodiazepine drug on Warugongo before leading her away from the crowd to a building near Uhuru Park. They were then joined by Harrison Nyamu Gunda and Edgar Mwandisha Mwangesha.
The court heard that the suspects used the drug to incapacitate Warugongo, making it easy for them to steal her handbag containing personal effects, documents, and Sh291,300 in cash. Gunda was charged with handling stolen property, while the three were also charged with stealing Warugongo's handbag valued at Sh2,500.
The suspects denied the charges and were released on a Sh300,000 cash bail each. The case will be mentioned on August 7, 2019.
