A fugitive suspect, Claire Marisiana Odimwa who is facing two separate fraud cases amounting to Sh206million has finally been arrested in a modified bunker inside her Buruburu house in Nairobi.
Odimwa who has been at large for three years since 2019 when she last appeared in court and thereafter jumped bail prompting issuance of a warrant of arrest against her was finally busted by the police.
Consequently, the court cancelled her bond and, in 2020, it issued a warrant for her arrest.
In one case, Odimwa is facing Sh204million tax evasion case and a separate Sh4.9million fraud case.
In her absentia, the court found guilty in the Sh4.9million case but the sentence had not been handed to her as she was nowhere to be seen.
According to the prosecution, to escape police dragnet, Odimwa had modified a space under stairs in her Buruburu house to be a hideout bunker to evade numerous police raids.
However, on Wednesday this week, the law enforcement agents busted her.
When the matter came up before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Martha Nanzushi, the court heard that Odimwa was finally arrested.
Her phone signal showed she was in the house but police couldn’t find her.
“We checked for her in the ceiling but we could not find her, only to find her in a closed cabinet under the staircase at her Buruburu residence.” The investigating officer told the court.
In the Sh4.9million case conviction, Odimwa was found guilty of obtaining the money from Thomas Aul Ewald by pretending she was taking her sick relative abroad for medication.
The magistrate informed Odimwa that her case had proceeded in her absence and her conviction secured.
“You were convicted in absentia and now you will serve a two-year jail term with an alternative fine of Sh300,000.” The magistrate ruled.
The magistrate ordered that Odimwa begins serving the sentence immediately since her bond had been forfeited to the State.
Senior Principal Magistrate Nanzushi had issued the warrant for her arrest in 2020 when she stopped attending court. The conviction was handed down last year.
The magistrate directed that Odimwa be presented before Senior Principal Magistrate Wandia Nyamu for directions in the Sh204million tax case.
But a lawyer defending Odimwa said she had been sick and that she had lost track of the proceedings after the court went virtual during the Covid-19 pandemic.
