Man given 3 years jail term for impersonation

Kabarnet

Wednesday, January 24, 24

KNA by Moses Lando/Joshua Kibet

A 28-year-old man accused of impersonating a Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) officer has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by a Kabarnet court.

Enock Chelogon alias Chebukati who appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Purity Koskey on Tuesday is said to have defrauded Jelagat Sergon Sh 20,000 by falsely pretending to be in a position to help her join the Kenya Defense Forces.

Chelogon was accused that in May 2023 at Bartabwa area in Baringo North sub-county within Baringo County, with intent to defraud, the accused falsely represented himself to Sergon as a member of the KDF.

He was charged with two counts of impersonation contrary to section 382 of the penal code and obtaining money by pretense contrary to section 313 of the penal code.

The court was told that Chelogon who was on the run until his arrest in December last year had pretended through his Facebook account to be a KDF member and persuaded his victim claiming he was a senior military officer, he went on and asked the complainant for Sh 200,000 which was to be paid in installments of Sh 2,000 – 5,000, the accused ended up accumulating Sh 20,000 before vanishing.

Area assistant chief Jonah Chelimo through a probation report had indicated that the accused person has been defrauding several members of the community using fake Facebook accounts and at times has the tendency of befriending women through intimate chats.

He added that the offender mostly preys on women and uses the same account to extort money by threatening to expose their nude photos online should they fail to yield to his demands.

In her ruling, SPM Kosgey said that the court had considered salient factors that informed sentencing of the accused.

“The court has found and taken into account the prevalence of cybercrime in the country, upon considering all these factors, I proceed to sentence the accused as follows. Count 1, a term of imprisonment for 1 year, count 2, a term of imprisonment for 2 years,” said Koskey.

She ordered the accused to serve 3 years in prison adding that he has 14 days right of appeal.

Courtesy; KNA