How a jobless man was lured into fraud scheme by a church colleague
However, Okelela denied the charges while appearing before Senior Principal Magistrate Joseph Karanja of Makadara Law Courts.
A 21-year-old man lured into a fraud scheme by a person who promised help after they met in a city church is now facing Sh110,500 fraud charges after luring businessman into a trap where he lost the cash.
Simon Okelela was charged with obtaining the Sh111,500 from Emmanuel Ayub by means of fraudulent tricks, contrary to section 315 of the Penal Code.
However, Okelela denied the charges while appearing before Senior Principal Magistrate Joseph Karanja of Makadara Law Courts.
He was released on a cash bail of Sh70, 000.
He is also facing a charge of conspiracy to commit a felony contrary to section 393 of the Penal Code where he is accused of colluding with others not before the court to obtain the money from Ayub using fraudulent tricks.
Okelela, who is jobless is accused of executing the fraud jointly with others including the “Good Samaritan” he had met at the church – Mountain of Deliverance in Ngara along Murang’a Road, who is still at large. The suspect allegedly committed the offences in Ngara, Nairobi, on July 12.
Okelela told police during the investigations that he called a person who gave his contact and promised help after they met at the church, using a borrowed mobile phone.
But unfortunately, Okelela is now facing a mountain of raising the money to compensate Ayub so that the case against him can be withdrawn.
The person he called told him to “save” his phone number as 0722 000 000 and proceed to a nearby M-pesa shop where he went claiming he intended to reverse money sent accidentally.
Okelela ended up at Ayub’s shop and gave him the phone to talk to (customer care) to get instructions on how to assist in reversing the transaction.
Ayub followed the “instructions from customer care” and the Sh11,500 was transferred.
Okelela was told to leave Ayub’s shop as he was not following instructions properly.
However, Ayub discovered that his money had been stolen and raised an alarm and Okelela was apprehended by members of the public he was subjected to mob injustice before he was handed over to the police. Okelela did not get a penny from the fraud he largely participated in.
The case will be mentioned on August 20, 2025 for a pre-trial.
