Suspects in Ksh.50 million KCB Thika theft charged

Three suspects who were arrested in connection with the Ksh.50 million Kenya Commercial Bank, Thika Branch heist were on Monday arraigned in court where they denied charges leveled against them.

Appearing before Thika Chief Magistrate Teresa Murigi, Charles Mwangi Murakaru aged 30 years, his brother Halford Munene Murakaru, 32, and Julius Wainaina, 32 were charged with breaking into the bank through an underground tunnel and handling stolen property, both of which they denied.

The suspects will remain in police custody until Thursday, November 30 when their bail application will be heard. The case will continue in December.

The prosecution asked the court to deny bail, arguing that they would interfere with investigations. However, the lawyer for the accused pleaded with the court to release his clients whom he argued, are not a flight risk.

The three were arrested at Marurui estate in Kiambu on Saturday, November 25, and led the investigators to Joy Land estate in Juja town where they had hidden the cash.

The amount included 1311 US dollars, 340 Great Britain Pounds, 5 Canadian Dollars, 85 Australia dollars, 46,000 Tanzania shillings, 40 South Africa rand and 20,000 Ugandan shillings.

Recovered cash was transferred to the KCB headquarters in Nairobi for safe custody.

In what was described as one of the most daring bank robberies in recent Kenyan history, the suspects dug a 30-metre-long tunnel into the bank’s strongroom in Thika Town and stole more than KSh.50 million.

Police said the tunnel was dug from inside a stall opposite the Thika divisional police headquarters, where the alleged criminals had been running a bookshop, through which they accessed the local KCB branch and made away with the amount.

So concealed was the operation, that no one noticed any suspicious activity until Monday last week when the money was discovered missing by the branch manager, Mr Samuel Ng’ang’a.