Francis Mureithi Wambugu
Kenyan politician and ex-Embakasi MP aspirant Francis Mureithi Wambugu is now linked to multiple fraud, money laundering, and forgery syndicate scandals. Starting with his academic papers, massive evidence of forgery is all over, with some senior members in government confirming that he is under investigation and he will soon be arraigned in court.
He was, a few years ago, in court, where he was accused of defrauding an Eritrean of Sh320 million through fraud tricks. When he appeared before Milimani Court Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku, he was accused of conning Haile Menkorios by false pretences. He denied the charges.
The court heard that he lied to the foreigner that his company, Doc Find Limited, had contracts with the Ministry of Defence to supply foodstuffs and that he could grant him a pass.
Mureithi was further 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 the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) to erect a weighbridge in Athi River, a fact he knew to be false.
He is said to have committed the offenses between April 26, 2016, and November 3, 2016. Additionally, the alleged fraudster was charged with defrauding one Abeba Woldehaimanot Abbay of Sh25 million contrary to the law.
The court heard that jointly with others who were not before the court, he falsely pretended that a letter dated April 2015 was a 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 the supply of sandbags to the Defence Forces.
Mureithi faced another charge of acquiring a property through money laundering and fraud. The court heard that he allegedly obtained some of his properties in a corrupt way.
According to the charge sheet, in June 2016, he acquired shares in Cisco’s Kenya Limited and a property in Karen worth Sh75 million while he knew that the money was part of the proceeds of the crime of obtaining money by pretense.
The fraudster denied the wrongdoing and pleaded for a lenient bond term. 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 the 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 document issued by the 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, and 5,000 bags of maize worth Sh106 million to defraud Kahawa via the Ministry of Defence.
Francis Wambugu Mureithi, one who five lawyers, requested lenient and favorable cash bail because he was not a flight risk. “He is a known person; he 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 the court. “The accused person has been attending to 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 a similar amount or a cash bail of Sh5 million.
