Ex-Embakasi East MP aspirant denies Sh300m fraud – Nairobi News

Businessman and former Embakasi East parliamentary aspirant Francis Mureithi on Wednesday denied obtaining money by false pretenses and was released on a cash bail of Sh5 million.

Mureithi was arrested on Tuesday night for allegedly defrauding an Eritrean national of Sh300 million between April and November 2016.

The MP candidate in the 2017 general election was charged with obtaining money by false pretenses, uttering false documents and money laundering.

Complainant Haile Menkerios claimed Mureithi had allegedly promised to help him secure a tender at the Department of Defence (DoD) headquarters for the supply of foodstuff.

Mureithi is accused of issuing the foreigner with a Local Purchase Order (LPO) to supply sugar, maize, rice and beans to the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).

Mureithi, through his company, Doc Find Ltd, together with other proxy companies reportedly then obtained a total of Sh300 million from him.

The other companies involved in the case have been identified as Wina Trading Ltd, New Research Path Company, Hammond Agencies and Sembel Trading.

The money was reportedly wired to the companies’ bank accounts on diverse dates between April 29 and November 3, 2016 by Menkerios.

Two of the suspected accomplices identified as Francis Mwaura Githienya and Hussein Osman Said remain at large.

In 2017, Mureithi took Embakasi East MP Babu Owino to court challenging his election but the Supreme Court in 2019 upheld the election after overturning high court’s nullification in 2018.