Kenyan- American fugitive who is wanted in Rwanda to serve a five-year jail term for defrauding a bank has been granted a Sh1 million bond and a surety of a similar amount.
Appearing before Senior Principal Magistrate Benard Ochoi, Nathan Loyn Ndungu was directed to deposit a Sh1 million bond and a surety of the same amount pending the filing of the extradition request.
He was ordered to surrender his passport and travel documents in court until the matter is determined and to report to the police twice a week as he awaits the extradition.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) had filed an application before the Milimani Law Court last week seeking to detain the fugitive for 21 days pending the commencement of the extradition process.
However, the Judge stated that there were no compelling reasons to warrant his detention.
Ndungu is wanted in Rwanda to serve a five-year jail term.
Ndungu was set to be detained at the Inland Container Depot Police Station pending the receipt of formal extradition request documents from the Republic of Rwanda, according to the prosecution’s Senior Assistant Director in the Department of Public Prosecution (SADPP) Catherine Mwaniki and Magdalene Nduati.
In 2012, INTERPOL issued a Red Notice Alert to Ndungu after a Rwandan court sentenced him to five years in prison in his absence after he was convicted of selling property that belonged to someone else, as well as fraud and deception.
The court also heard last week that Ndungu holds dual citizenship as a Kenyan and an American, allowing him to return to the United States of America (USA) and blend in with the locals without being detected, and that Rwanda does not have an extradition treaty with the US.
The prosecution also claimed that because Ndungu is wanted in Rwanda, he cannot be released on bail or bond.
They speculated that he could flee the country again without being discovered.
Ndungu returned to Nairobi from the USA on January 31.
