Police officers based in Kirinyaga County on Monday, May 29, hunted down a pastor accused of swindling local Anglican church money to the tune of Ksh2 million.
According to a report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the man of the cloth had been entrusted to supply the church with 410 plastic seats in a tender awarded on February 9.
The pastor was also expected to work with his wife on the church project, estimated to be slightly over Ksh2 million.
DCI indicated that the man failed to deliver the seats to the church on April 10 in accordance with the timelines that had been issued.
Further, it was revealed that the pastor went missing and could not be reached by the church officials.
Suspecting they had been swindled, the church officials reported the matter to the local police, who then launched a manhunt for the pastor.
"As reported by the church faithful at Wang’uru Police Station, the man of the cloth swindled them for their money before disappearing. Efforts to reach him turned futile, prompting the church vicar to file the report.
"Police immediately swung into action and successfully apprehended the suspect," read the statement in part.
Upon his arrest, the pastor was arraigned in court with the police preferring charges of obtaining money under false pretence.
Nonetheless, the DCI did not reveal whether the pastor's wife was being pursued over the incident.
Consequently, the police cautioned the public about the rising fraud cases in tenders targeting the church and other places of worship.
Churches were, therefore, urged to be cautious when dealing with businessmen pretending to be men and women of the cloth.
