A Kenyan woman identified as Irene, has been working in Saudi Arabia as a house help.
Irene flew from the Middle East nation with permission from her employer, so that she could track down Sh. 300,000 cash that was sent to the wrong number via Mpesa.
In a detailed video posted by Derrick Mbugua on Facebook, Irene explained that her employer had paid her by transferring money into her Saudi Bank account through a teller on November 21st, 2023.
The teller sent the money to a second teller who was situated in a different branch. The second teller was then required to deposit the funds into Irene’s sister’s bank account in Kenya through the bank’s standard process.
However, instead, the second teller sent the money to a wrong number which was later identified to belong to a man known as William Otieno. This was how the chase for the money began.
“We went with my boss to the bank, and the teller admitted that he sent the money to the wrong number. He said that instead of sending the money, he called another branch and a teller there made the mistake,” she said.
“She sent the money through M-Pesa and not through the bank as I had instructed. Unfortunately, the man withdrew the money as soon as it landed on his phone.”
Upon contacting Safaricom, she was advised to visit a police station. Irene, lucky to have a good employer, was provided with a ticket to Kenya to facilitate the report-making process.
She arrived in Kenya on 7th December and her first stop was the Kasarani Police Station. She filed her report and was issued an OB Number at the station.
During her visit, a DCI officer named Lucy Mbithe Munyambu offered her assistance in tracking down the individual who had withdrawn the money.
Irene says that Officer Lucy went to court and requested permission to access Otieno’s records at Safaricom to determine if he received the money. After confirmation, Lucy was able to track down William Otieno.
Irene was requested to fork out Sh. 20,000 to fuel the officer’s police vehicle which would facilitate Otieno’s arrest. Later, she would be asked for an extra Sh. 3,000 to pay for a taxi vehicle since Officer Lucy claimed that the area was inaccessible for vehicles.
She later came to find out that the money was received by one of the officers who had accompanied Officer Lucy
“On the day of the arrest, I was told to send Sh. 3,000 cab money because they could not access William easily. I later realized that the money was sent to one of the officers,” she said.
After she sent the money, the DCI officers started taking her round in circles, claiming that Otieno had fled in Tanzania. This went on for 2 weeks until Irene began to smell a rat.
“Madam Lucy told me that Otieno still had Sh. 100,000 out of the Sh. 300,000 and she advised me not to take that money; they wanted Otieno to pay for all of it. Little did I know that the money was to be given to the officers,” Irene claimed.
She contacted Otieno directly and discovered that he was in Kisumu. Otieno chastised her harshly, and to make matters worse, he sent her a transaction message from his phone indicating Sh. 22,100 he sent to DCI officer Lucy.
Irene called Officer Lucy to clarify the claims Otieno had made, only to be quarrelled by the lady officer.
“When I asked Lucy, she scolded me and said I should not quarrel her like a child. She was very rude to me and I had to block all of them (DCI) officers,” Irene narrated.
She has now been left seeking justice for her money, unsure of where and whom to turn to. A spot check by Bizna Kenya showed that the money was to facilitate the healthcare costs of Irene’s father, who’s battling cancer.