Economy

Sh50m KCB heist suspects get more charges

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Four suspects charged with theft of Sh50 million at KCB Thika branch when they appeared in court on Dec 14, 2017. PHOTO | MARY WAMBUI

Three of the four suspects charged with breaking and stealing more than Sh50 million from KCB Thika branch between November 18 and 20 through an underground tunnel face additional charges of handling and possessing suspected stolen property.

On Thursday, two brothers Halford Munene Murakaru and Charles Mwangi Murakaru were accused of jointly being in possession 200 national identity cards (IDs), 200 Orange SIM cards, 1,239 MTN SIM cards, five Cyprus Telecommunication Authority cards and seven computer central processing units — all suspected to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained on November 25 at Joyland Estate in Juja, Kiambu.

Shem Karani Karimi was accused of being found in possession of three national IDs on December 1 in Mtwapa, Mombasa, suspected to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained. They denied the charges.

The two brothers had earlier been charged alongside third suspect Julius Ndung’u Wainaina with two counts of breaking into the bank, stealing and handling stolen property namely Sh2,650,000, 95 Australian dollars, 185 euros, 1,630 British pounds, TSh271,000, USh947,000, US$5,781, 40 South Africa rand and five Canadian dollars property of the bank.

Later, the police arrested the fourth suspect, 26-year-old Karimi, in Mtwapa and charged him with similar charges.

The three denied the charges before chief magistrate Teresa Murigi and were released on Sh4 million bond with two sureties of a similar amount each.

On Thursday, the court granted the prosecution’s application to have the two cases consolidated. However, Mr Karimi objected, saying he was not involved in the theft, but Ms Murigi allowed it given that the four were facing similar charges.

Defence counsel Waithera Mwangi for the two brothers and Mr Ndung’u sought a review their bond terms, saying they had been unable to raise the cash due to the fact that they come from humble backgrounds.