Nairobi Mother In Court Over Stealing Of Employers' KSh 1.5 Million Jewellery

• The arraigned woman works as a house help with a monthly salary of KSh 17,000 but was found to have made money transactions involving hundreds of thousands
• The lost jewellery was valued at over KSh 1.5 million and was in the possession of her employer for over 20 years
• Investigations showed that the accused woman had made M-Pesa transactions of over KSh 600,000 and was unable to explain the source of her income besides her monthly KSh 17,000 pay

A 37-year-old mother of five has been charged with stealing gold jewellery valued at KSh 1.5 million from her Asian employer's study room in Westlands Nairobi.

House help salaries in Nairobi

Beatrice Muyonga who works as a nanny appeared before Kibera Law Courts Senior Principal Magistrate William Tulei where she was charged with stealing.

According to police, they got suspicious after Muyonga, who used to earn KSh 17,000 monthly, began making money transactions involving thousands of shillings.

She was accused that between February 1, and August 4, 2023, while at Muthaiga Heights in Westlands sub-county, Nairobi county, being a servant to Anjali Harkoo, stole assorted gold jewelleries worth KSh 1.5 million, property of her employer.

According to court documents, on August 8, 2023, her boss, who resides at Muthaiga Heights Apartments, was checking on her documents inside two boxes from her cabinet situated in the study room when she realised something was amiss.

Gold jewellery price in Kenya

The report indicates that Harkoo found out that the jewellery she had bought in London was missing and immediately contacted the police.

She had the jewellery, which included three heavy gold necklaces, a pair of earrings and four gold bangles with rubies with her in India for 20 years.

Police summoned Muyonga after the report was made by her employer and investigations began immediately.

During the investigations, it was found out that Muyonga had made numerous M-Pesa transactions involving huge amounts of money whose source could not be explained.

The police indicated that the accused could not explain the source of the huge sums of money she was transacting despite her monthly income being KSh 17,000.

M-Pesa transactions limit

M-Pesa statements showed that she had made deposits amounting to KSh 616,740 and withdrawals amounting to KSh 446,000 with cash receipts of KSh 83,700.

The accused's lawyer Linet Rono, asked the court to grant her client lenient bond terms as she was not a flight risk after she pleaded not guilty to the charges.

"Your honour I urge this court for lenient bail terms. My client has a fixed abode," Rono told the court.

The court granted Muyonga a bond of KSh 500,000 with a surety of the same amount or a cash bail of KSh 300,000.