By E, KNA
A land fraud suspect, accused of defrauding an Eldoret contractor of over Sh8 million while falsely claiming the ability to sell agricultural land, has been released on a Sh300,000 bond.
Jonanes Onkoba Boyi was given an alternative of a cash bail of Sh100,000 if he expects to secure his freedom from Eldoret GK remand prison where he has been detained since his arrest by the police on Monday.
On the other hand, Senior Principal Magistrate Kesse Cheronoh also directed the suspect to deposit in court two passport sizes of and National IDs of his two guarantors as a condition for his freedom.
Furthermore, the Magistrate ordered the Boyi to avail to her court a letter from his area chief in Busia County.
“You must bring a letter from your area chief indicating whether you hail from his area of administration so that in the event you jump bail we will look for him to produce you in court,” ruled the Magistrate.
The suspect pleaded not guilty to the charge of obtaining Sh8,137,700 from the contractor Martin Sawe Chemonges by pretending that he was in a position to sell him a parcel of land measuring 48 acres in Uasin Gishu County settlement scheme.
Bayi committed the alleged criminal offence on diverse dates between August 18th 2017 and August 14ths 2020 at an unknown place within the Republic of Keya jointly with others not before the court.
Boyi was arrested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations unit in Nairobi after fleeing due to his involvement in a land fraud syndicate, which implicated numerous suspected buyers, including a contractor.
The prosecution had earlier on asked the court to grant the accused person a tough bond/bail condition arguing that he was a flight risk. Hence, the accused was brought to court under a warrant of arrest for failing to appear for plea taking in land fraud cases at the Eldoret law court.
It was revealed that the accused is involved in similar cases at Kibera law court, where he has been sentenced in absentia for not attending court. Lastly, the Magistrate was surprised to discover that Boyi has not attended any court proceedings related to several land fraud cases against him in various regional courts.