Man charged with impersonating KDF officer in Sh350,000 recruitment fraud

A man and a female accomplice, who allegedly defrauded a woman of Sh350,000 with a promise to find a job in the military for the woman's son, have been charged with obtaining money by false pretences and impersonation. Vincent Alphayo Mutonyi alias Major Simiyu is also facing charges of conspiracy to defraud. Mr Mutonyi has been accused of obtaining the money from Siprine Auma Owuor on January 2, 2019, jointly with two others, by falsely pretending that he was in a position to secure a job for the woman's son with the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF). His accomplices are Jemima Muoti Musyoka and Melisa Nasiche, who are wives of soldiers at Langata barracks where the alleged fraud was hatched. The accused persons have also been charged with conspiracy to defraud and obtaining money by false pretenses. Ms Musyoka had allegedly told Ms Nasiche that she knows a senior officer at the Embakasi Garrison who has helped many youths to get recruited into KDF. Nasiche later convinced Ms Owuor to get the Sh350,000 requested by the officer to facilitate medical tests and training kits so that he gets the recruitment letter ready. Mr Mutonyi is also charged with impersonation after allegedly presenting himself as a public service officer employed by the KDF. The suspect denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Derrick Kutto and was released on a Sh100,000 bond with an alternative cash bail of Sh50,000. His case, together with that of his accomplices, will be heard from October 27, 2021.