The Chief Magistrate’s Court at Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi has declined an application seeking to detain three suspects for 10 days over the alleged theft of Sh1.64 million from a reveller at a Westlands nightclub.
Instead, the court ordered that the three be released on cash bail to allow investigations to continue.
The application had been filed seeking custodial orders to hold Erick Muturi Mwangi, Martin Njuguna Itemo, and Erick Gitonga at Parklands Police Station.
DCI Parklands told the court that the suspects were under investigation for the offence of stealing contrary to Section 268(1) as read with Section 275 of the Penal Code.
According to the affidavit, the complainant, Bett Kipsang, reported that on September 7, 2025, at about 4:00 a.m., he discovered that his iPhone 13 was missing while he was in Club in Westlands.
Upon checking his bank accounts, he allegedly found that Sh1,640,000 had been transferred without his consent from his accounts held at Standard Chartered Bank and KCB.
Investigators informed the court that the funds were allegedly wired to various Safaricom till numbers and more than 40 mobile phone numbers. In one instance, Sh50,000 was reportedly transferred to an account at IMARIKA SACCO.
Police said the three suspects were arrested on February 22, 2026, in separate locations.
The first respondent was arrested at a rental house in Ruiru Kimbo. The second was apprehended along Kamiti Road, where officers allegedly recovered 15 SIM cards, four mobile phones, identification cards, and an ATM card. The third suspect was arrested in Kahawa Wendanyi, with police claiming to have recovered a laptop and SIM card plates.
In seeking extended detention, the investigating officer argued that more time was required to trace and recover the stolen funds, conduct forensic and IMEI analysis on the recovered electronic devices, and pursue at least three other suspects said to be at large.
Magistrate Rose Ndombi directed that the respondents be released on a bond of Ksh 200,000 with a cash bail of Kshs. 50,000
