This archive report was first published on 21 August 2019.
On a fateful night in August, a policeman's evening out turned into a nightmare. Arthur Gakuya, a policeman attached to the vigilance house, had visited Jambo Grill for a meal after a drive to Juja to oversee the construction of his house.
There, he met Peninah Afandi and Everlyne Asendi, and the three formed a mutually beneficial relationship, with Gakuya hoping to take one or both of them home. The policeman ordered drinks and then proceeded to take a cab to the Eureka club on Tom Mboya Street in Nairobi's CBD, where they continued to intoxicate.
As the night wore on, Gakuya, who had not planned for these expenses, ran out of cash. He excused himself and took a cab to the ATM, withdrawing a lump sum of Sh10,000 to cover the night. However, this would be the only amount leaving his bank account to cover the whole night, or so he thought.
After returning to the bar, Gakuya met Afandi, Asendi, and another man who forced him to get in the cab with them. A gun was pointed at him, and he was ordered to surrender the Sh10,000, as well as his ATM cards and PIN numbers.
Afandi and Asendi then withdrew Sh60,000 from Gakuya's two bank accounts. They went to a supermarket in Donholm area, where they bought high-end household electronics and expensive bedding, paying Sh384,000 using Gakuya's ATM card.
Everlyne Asendi later confessed everything in a statement to the DCI, including hiring a lorry to ferry the items to their homes and how they shared the money.
Detectives have confiscated all the items suspected to be proceeds of crime from the women's homes in Kayole and Umoja and recovered CCTV footage at the ATM booths and supermarket.
The two women were charged on Monday with administering stupefying drugs to Gakuya with intent to commit a felony — stealing from him and stealing his Sh384,000.
Afandi and Asendi are also charged with administering stupefying drugs to Gakuya in order to steal, as well as stealing Sh60,000 from him. The grand total was about Sh454,000. The trial of the trio starts on September 25.
