Eldoret court extends arrest warrant for businesswoman accused of fraud

Eldoret,

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

KNA by Kiptanui Cherono

Eldoret Senior Resident Magistrate Rosemary Onkoba has ordered that a woman accused of fraud, Susan Kiere be arrested and brought before the court on January 29, 2024, for further directions. 

The magistrate issued the orders after the accused failed to appear in court for the second time even after a warrant of arrest was issued against her. 

Onkoba was forced to extend the arrest warrant against the Nairobi-based business woman who is alleged to have defrauded business opportunity seekers of more than Sh280,000. 

The accused was nowhere to be seen within the courtroom when her name was called out for the hearing of a criminal case in which she is accused of defrauding three job seekers under the pretext of securing them visas for business opportunities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

Onkoba ruled, “Now that the accused person has for the second time failed to show up in court, I extend the arrest warrant and direct the police to arrest and bring her to court on January 29, 2024, for further directions.” 

Ms. Kiere is accused of fraudulently obtaining Sh280,000 from Nicholas Njoroge on diverse dates between November 30, 2022, and January 1, 2023 at Nickline Golf consultancy company in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County. 

She is said to have duped the complainant into believing that she was in a position to help him to process visa cards for Leah Njeri, Faith Kemei, and Brenda Kosgei to travel to the UAE for business opportunities. 

When she first appeared before court the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on a Sh100,000 bond. 

The magistrate however cancelled the bond after being forced to adjourn her case last month when the accused sneaked out of the courtroom and disappeared just when the hearing of the case was about to start. 

Kiere would later make a call from her hide-out to inform the court that she left the court in a huff to go seek urgent medical attention in a hospital as she was not feeling well. 

Her disappearance was brought to the attention of the court by the prosecutor Sidi Kirenge who termed her action as disrespectful to the court and asked for an immediate cancellation of the bond. 

“The accused has been in court since morning pending the hearing of her criminal case and, she decides to sneak out and disappear only to call back saying she is feeling unwell. Your honor, the accused had never informed the court that she was sick all along the period she was here," argued Kirenge. 

The senior resident magistrate noted that compelling reasons had been raised by the prosecutor warranting the termination of the bond. 

The state counsel informed the court that the accused person has been using the same trick to evade justice for her actions. 

“Your honor, I have gone through some of the medical reports from the hospital she claims to have gone to seek treatment and we discovered that they were all fake after closely scrutinizing the documents,” said revealed to the court. 

Courtesy; KNA