A man, who identified himself as a 'hustler' in court, has denied stealing property worth Ksh9.6 million from his former employer.
The prosecution said that on July 19, 2020, Moses Maina Waigiri broke into a warehouse that belonged to a book distributor on Waruga Lane in Nairobi and stole items valued at Ksh 9.6million.
Maina pleaded not guilty before Nairobi Chief Magistrate Zainab Abdul, saying that he is a 'hustler' who worked for the complainant but later quit his job last year.
He added that that property was stolen by those who were hired after he quit.
The complainant, Julie Wanjiku Wanyeki said that she was on July 25, 2020, told by security guard officers that Maina had gone to the go-down that she owned with a lorry and forcefully entered and made away with the goods.
Upon confrontation by the security guards, Maina alleged that the godown had been leased.
With reference to the documents presented in court, the complainant had rented the go-down where she used to store books and furniture that Maina is alleged to have stolen.
When Wanjiku went to her store, she was surprised to find it locked with a new padlock.
Wanjiku also mentioned that the guards, who work at the go-down told her that Maina with several others beat up and chased away the guard they found assigned to the store.
It was brought to the court’s attention that the suspects divided the godown into smaller stores which were set to be rented to unsuspecting tenants after the incident. Maina claimed that someone, whom he named Jimmy, who died of Covid-19 in 2020 had contracted him to subdivide the go-down.
Maina was released on a Ksh 3 million bond or Ksh 1 million cash bail.
