This archive report was first published on 3 January 2020.
On January 2, 2020, a 21-year-old M-Pesa attendant in Dallas Estate of Embu Town was arrested for allegedly defrauding her employer of Sh50,000.
According to the M-Pesa outlet proprietor David Gakuru, Peninah Mutindi Kilonzo had prior arrangements to steal the money. She had already transferred Sh35,000 cash float to another person's account before requesting another Sh15,000, which she transferred to her own account before withdrawing it at another M-Pesa outlet.
Gakuru discovered the fraud after a customer sought to withdraw some money in vain, with Mutindi lying that there was a challenge with the Safaricom network. Later, the suspect claimed that she was conned of the cash float by a client who disappeared, but Gakuru was suspicious and reported her at Embu police station.
On investigation, Mutindi was found with extra handsets that she had used to transfer the money. When investigators visited her house, they found that she had already packed her belongings ready to escape, but no money was recovered.
The suspect will be arraigned in court once police conclude their investigations.
