It was the end of the road for four suspects alleged to be the masterminds behind a series of fraud incidents in Nyeri while posing as Social Health Authority officers.
The four, Lilian Njeri (28), Catherine Mumbi (37), Samuel Mbuthia (40) and Peter Murithi (37) were on Monday charged before a Nyeri court where each is facing four counts of impersonation and four others of theft of Sh195,400.
The accused are also battling similar charges before the Marimanti Court in Tharaka-Nithi and in Chuka law Court. They are out on a Sh200,000 and Sh50,000 cash bail from the two Tharaka Nithi courts respectively pending hearing.
On the first count, they were charged with impersonation contrary to Section 382 of the Penal code. The four allegedly posed as civil servants working with the Ministry of Health’s SHA section and presented themselves to one of their victims, Catherine Wanjiku in Kiandege Village in Kieni, Nyeri County on July 4, 2025 as such.
The four then proceeded to steal Sh97,700 from Ms Wanjiku on the same day.
About two months later the four visited Mweiga township in Kieni Constituency on the morning of September 13, 2025 where they used the same tricks on two unsuspecting residents. They duped Rose Wangechi and David Mwangi and made away with Sh51,000 and Sh10,200 from the two respectively.
Again, on October 4, 2025 at around 5.30 pm, they struck Endarasha in Kieni and while impersonating SHA officers, the four once again stole Sh36,500 from Stephen Muthima.
They denied the charges when they appeared before Nyeri Chief Magistrate Elena Nderitu. While pleading for lenient bond and bail terms, their advocate Wambugu argued that the four were innocent until proven guilty.
He told the courts that the kin of the four accused had faced numerous challenges since. “The first accused, Lilian Njeri is a single mother of twins and her children have become destitute after she was taken into police custody.
The second accused, Catherine Mumbi, he added is a mother of three children aged 14 years, six years and five years. “These are school going children and they had not seen their mother for three weeks,” said the lawyer adding: “The third accused is a father of two children aged 17 and 13 years. He has been in custody for three months under similar circumstances. He is seeking cash bail. He is a single parent, his wife left him a few years ago.
The fourth accused is a divorcee and asthmatic. He has been in custody for three months. He has two children who are dependent on him,” added the lawyer.
The Chief Magistrate granted each of the four a bond of Sh200,000 or an alternative cash bail of Sh100,000. A pre-trail mention is scheduled for December 2 as the matter proceeds to full hearing.
by Wangari Mwangi
