Disappointed robber demands refund of bribe paid to police

A court in Machakos County of Kenya was thrown into a state of shock on Tuesday when a suspect standing trial for robbery demanded a refund of bribe he had paid to the police after an agreement to kill the case.

According to the Daily Nation, Mutinda Kilonzo revealed to the court that he was escorted by police officers to the bank where he withdrew an amount of Sh200,000 and paid to them to fulfill his part of the agreement aimed at his release.

Mutinda Kilonzo is quoted as having told Kithimani Senior Resident Magistrate, Gilbert Shikwe that: “I was escorted from the police station to KCB Matuu branch in a police vehicle and taken back to custody after withdrawing Sh200,000, which was to be shared between the police officers and the complainant to settle the case and get me freed.”

To prove that he was telling the truth, the suspect reportedly presented a bank slip to the court indicating that he had indeed withdrawn the money on March 8 at 15:59pm.

Records at the Matuu Police Station gave credence to the suspect’s claim as documents showed that he was arrested on the night of March 7 and booked in under reference number OB3/8/3/2018, at 2am.

The records indicated that on the day of the said bank withdrawal, he was still in police custody.

The suspect emphatically said: “Your honour, now that I have been produced in court, please help me get back the Sh200,000 I gave…because it was meant to secure my freedom.”

He is being tried together with accomplices, Kelvin Mutunga, Samson Mutavi, Solomon Mutuku and Mwandikwa Sulai for robbing one businessman, Michael Matheka.

Per the charge sheet, the robbers broke into Michael Matheka’s electronic shop on different occasions between November 30, 2017 and February 17 this year, and stole goods valued at Sh350,000.

As if that was not enough, they again broke into the victim’s house and made away with five television sets, six mattresses, one motorcycle, clothes and other household goods, all worth Sh674,500.

The court ordered the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Matuu to investigate the bribery case.

However, explaining their modus operandi, the charge sheet indicated that Mutinda Kilonzo and his gang spent a whole one week in the victim’s house jubilating, cooking, eating and making away with his belongings during the period.

At night they made away with the belongings, and at dawn they returned to the house to continue their merry making.

They even harvested fish from the victim’s fish pond and prepared sumptuous meals for themselves for a whole week, as if the house was there.