Former Embakasi East constituency seat aspirant Francis Mureithi Wambugu on Wednesday denied defrauding an Eritrean national Sh320,850,000 in 2016.
Mureithi who appeared before Nairobi Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku is accused of obtaining the money from Haile Menkorios, by falsely pretending that his company, Doc Find Limited had contracts with the Ministry of Defence to supply foodstuff.
He is also charged with falsely pretending that his company had a sugar distribution agreement with Mumias Sugar Company to distribute sugar within Nairobi and its environs and a Business Service Permit (BSP) with Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) to erect a weighbridge in Athi River, a fact he knew to be false.
The alleged offences allegedly occurred between April 26, 2016 and November 3, 2016.
Mureithi is also accused of defrauding one Abeba Woldehaimanot Abbay Sh25 million.
The court heard that jointly with others who were not before court, he falsely pretended that a letter dated April 2015 was genuine and valid letter issued by the Ministry of Defence and signed by Z.G Ogendi for PS Defence to Doc Find Company as a contract agreement for supply of sand bags to the Defence Forces.
Mureithi faced another charge of acquiring a property from the proceeds of crime.
The court heard that in June 2016, he acquired shares in Ciscos Kenya Limited and a property in Karen worth Sh75 million while he knew that the money was part of proceeds of crime of obtaining money by false pretense.
He also faced two other counts of uttering a false document and two counts of forgery. According to the charge sheet, jointly with others not before court, he forged two letters purporting to be genuine documents issued by the Ministry of Defence.
One document was allegedly a contract agreement for the supply of sandbags to the Defence Forces.
The other document purported to be a genuine documents issued by Ministry of Defence to Doc Find Company to supply 5,000 bags of Mumias Sugar, 5,000 bags of Mwea Rice, 5,000 bags of Wairimu beans, 5,000 bags of maize worth Sh106 million to defraud Kahawa via the Ministry of Defence.
Mureithi who was represented by five lawyers requested for lenient and favourable cash bail on grounds that he was not a flight risk.
“He is a known person, he actually ran for a political seat and has a permanent residence in Nairobi so there is no way he will skip bail,” his lawyer Duncan Okatch told the court.
The lawyers also argued that the case was emanating from a civil case, which was still pending and very active before court.
“The accused person has actually been attending that particular matter despite not being required by the law to attend, he has fully cooperated with the investigating officers as it is a matter that has taken time,” Okatch argued.
Magistrate Mutuku released him on a bond of Sh10 million with two sureties of similar amount or a cash bail of Sh5 million.
In addition to the cash bail, the Magistrate ordered Mureithi to avail two contact persons who will deposit a copy of their ID in court.
Mureithi was also directed to deposit his passport in court.
