A man who received an unexpected deposit of Ksh800,000 in his bank account appears to be stuck between a rock and a hard place after he was charged with stealing the cash.
Appearing before an Embu Court, Morris Murangiri was charged that on diverse dates between December 5, 2019, and January 2, this year, at Family Bank Embu Branch, he stole the money which was deposited into his account by mistake.
The court heard from State Counsel Victor Ombongi that the money was intended for one John Munene Njeru but it was erroneously deposited in the suspect’s account by a person who was buying land from Njeru.
Mr Njeru is said to have unintentionally given the complainant the wrong bank account number after making a mistake in one digit.
Rather than following up with the bank on the nature of the deposit, the accused allegedly withdrew the cash on diverse dates before the complainant could discover.
The court was told that Murangiri used the ‘manna from heaven’ to build a house before he was traced and arrested.
The accused pleaded guilty to the crime and applied to be allowed to pay the money back in installments from his salary.
However, Chief Magistrate Maxwell Gicheru declined to grant the request saying it would take years to repay the money in installments. The magistrate said Murangiri has to pay the money back quickly or be jailed.
He was released on Sh200,000 bond and surety of a similar amount.
The court will rule on the matter on June 22.
