Turkana politician detained for 14 days in Ksh.24M gold, mercury scam
A
Mombasa court on Thursday detained a Turkana County politician and businessman
embroiled in a Ksh.24 million gold and mercury scam for 14 days pending the
conclusion of investigations.
Appearing
before Senior Resident Magistrate David Odhiambo, the accused Simon Ekai Ewoi
was charged with obtaining Ksh.24,263,780 by false pretences in the minerals
trade.
“Ekai
Ewoi was arraigned before Senior Resident Magistrate David Odhiambo to face
four counts of obtaining money by false pretences, contrary to Section 313 of
the penal code,” read a statement by the Office of the Director of Public
Prosecutions (ODPP).
The
ODPP said the accused and his accomplices fraudulently received the said sum from
four complainants by pretending to be in a position to partner with them in the
gold and mercury trade.
Ekoi
however pleaded not guilty to all counts levelled against him.
In
his judgement, the trial magistrate ordered the accused to be detained for 14
days at the Central Police Station to allow detectives to complete their
investigations.
“The court directed that he
be produced in court on 8th April 2024, where he would be released on a Ksh.7
million bond with a surety of similar amount and two guarantors with clear
details of their residences,” stated the ODPP.
Early
this week, the court had given police two days to charge the businessman saying
they had no valid reasons to continue detaining the suspect who has been
in custody since his arrest on March 25, 2024.
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