How Kirinyaga woman who got a lift from strangers lost Ksh.200K in minutes

A Kirinyaga woman is in disbelief after she lost Ksh.200,000 to fraudsters at the Ngurubani Trading Centre within a record 3 minutes.

A 45-year-old Jane Miano who is a trader at the shopping centre was headed to Makutano market which is 5 kilometers away from Ngurubani when she was offered a lift by a driver in a private car.

Overjoyed at her luck, she hopped into the car which set off towards Makutano; she knew she would take less than 30 minutes to and from the market.

The car had three other occupants; two women who were very eager to engage the Ms. Miano in a hearty conversation.

Soon after, the driver stopped outside a local supermarket and gave Ms. Miano  Ksh.100 to grab a bottle of water.

Since the car’s occupants appeared very friendly, she hopped off and sauntered to the supermarket, leaving her purse inside the car.

It was after she left the supermarket that she realized that the car had driven off, taking away her bag which had Ksh.200,000 and personal documents.

“I was heading to the market to buy several bags of rice, I was running alone in the town like a mad woman after they fled with my money,” she told Citizen Digital.

The matter was reported to the Wang’uru police station and is currently under investigation.

Area residents have raised alarm over the increasing cases of fraud in the county.

On Sunday, three people were arrested after robbing a 54-year-old woman Ksh.70,000 after claiming they were employees of telco giant Airtel.

Fortunately, Beth Mbithe-the victim- was alerted by her son who locked the three inside their family home in Baricho before alerting the police.

Ndia Police Commander Joseph Mwika said the three suspects; Benson Waigwa Macharia 38, Mercy Mukami,29, and Caroline Wanjiru, 20, are all from Makongeni in Thika.