A suspected fraudster who allegedly conned a businessman of Sh3.6 million while promising to be in a position to rent him a warehouse in Eastleigh, Nairobi, was charged with obtaining the money by false pretenses contrary to section 313 of the Penal Code.
Abdisalam Hussein is accused of obtaining the money from Hassan Abdulahi Sheikh on diverse dates between July 29, 2023, and October 3, 2022, 2022 by falsely pretending he was in a position to rent a warehouse to him knowing the same was untrue.
The court heard that Mr Hussein approached Mr Sheikh in 2022 and told him he had a warehouse that he could rent out to him at Sh300, 000 per month. The complainant paid rent of Sh3.6 million to the accused person.
However, on March 10, 2023, Mr Sheikh received a court order stating he had rent arrears amounting to Sh1,187,600 which he ought to have paid to the building’s owner – Soft Masters Limited.
Mr Sheikh was informed that he had not paid rent for a period of four months although he had paid double the amount the company was demanding as the rent arrears.
Auctioneers contracted by Soft Masters Limited told the complainant that his landlord – Mr Hussein’s company Megha Star Millers which leased the premises had not paid rent and they confiscated his goods worth Sh10 million.
Mr Sheikh was forced to pay the Sh1, 187, 600 to recover his goods before reporting the matter at Pangani police station.
Police carried out investigations and handed the file to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions at the Makadara Law Courts on March 28, 2023, and the ODPP recommended the charges facing Mr Hussein.
But Corporal Hussein Hassan of Pangani police station who is the investigating officer in the case told the court that Mr Hussein has been on the run until Monday when he was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after arriving from Somalia.
Mr Hussein denied the charges before Senior Resident Magistrate Mercy Malingu and Cpl. Hassan urged the court to release him on stringent bail and bond terms since he had proved to be a flight risk.
Cpl. Hassan said the suspect switched off his four mobile phones after learning that the police were looking for him.
The cop said the suspect had also declined to give his residential particulars and refused to record his statement as per the police procedure which proves that he is uncooperative.
The police officer also said the suspect’s nationality was not clear and is still under investigation.
However, Mr Hussein denied the claims by the investigating officer through a lawyer and claimed that he has been moving in and out of the country on business trips and has always been reachable.
He sought lenient bail and bond terms. The accused person was released on a bond of Sh1 million and an alternative cash bail of Sh500, 000.
Ms Malingu ordered him to surrender his passport which was handed over to the court by Cpl. Hassan. The passport will be detained by the court during the trial of the suspect.
The case will be mentioned on October 17, 2023, before hearing starts on December 4, 2023.
