Tuesday, 27 October 2020 –Two students from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) appeared in court to answer to fraud charges after they reportedly hacked into a local bank’s system and stole millions of shillings.
The suspects, Antony Mwangi Ngige, 23, and Ann Wambui Nyoike, 21, are accused of stealing Sh 24.4 million after hacking into NCBA Bank between October 20 and 22 this year.
They tried to defraud the same bank Sh190.7 million before their criminal activities were discovered.
The fraud suspects appeared before Milimani Senior Resident Magistrate, Carolyne Muthoni, where they denied the charges.
The prosecution said that the students committed the crime with other suspects who are still on the run.
Interestingly, the court heard that Antony Ngige, one of the suspects in the case, tipped off the bank of a systems hitch on the NCBA’s mobile app through his Twitter account.
His lawyers argued that he acted as a whistle-blower and should not be treated as a suspect.
“It is the first accused (Ngige) who initiated his prosecution process by informing bank authorities that there was a hitch in its system,” his lawyer said.
The lawyer said that the bank summoned Ngige on Saturday and when he presented himself, he was told to return on Monday.
Ngige went to the bank on Monday in the company of the other suspect Ann Wambui and they were arrested.
They are accused of defrauding the bank.
Ngige’s lawyer asked the court to release the suspects on a reasonable cash bail of Sh100, 000 since they are students.
“I urge this court to release the suspects on a reasonable cash bail of Sh100,000 given that they are students and not financially able to raise a substantial amount,” the lawyer urged the magistrate.
The magistrate directed each suspect to deposit a bond of Sh 2million with a surety of a similar amount or deposit a cash bail of Sh 500,000 each.
The case will proceed on November 10, 2020.
Here’s a photo of the suspects.
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