Albert Ojwang: Suspect Accused of Using OCS Talam's Phone to Extort Kenyans Pleads Guilty
- Dennis Masavi, one of the men accused of carrying out extortion using ex-OCS Samson Talam's phone, pleaded guilty
- Masavi's counterparts, Amos Nzomo and James Mutemi, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges pressed against them
- The court further explained how the three were linked to the SIM swap scam using Talam's cell phone
Faith Chandianya, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and Current Affairs in Kenya
A man connected to the extortion of the public through SIM swap, involving former Nairobi Central OCS Samson Talam's mobile phone, was arraigned.
Source: Original
While appearing before senior principal magistrate Dolphina Alego at the Milimani Law Court on August 19, Dennis Masavi, who is one of the three accused persons, pleaded guilty to all three counts of SIM swapping and extortion.
Did Dennis Masavi's co-accused plead guilty?
However, Masavi's co-accused, including Amos Nzomo and James Mutemi, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to the charge sheet seen by TUKO.co.ke, Masavi, together with Nzomo and Mutemi, allegedly conspired to commit a felony referred to as computer fraud.
They allegedly fraudulently replaced a SIM card belonging to Talam and unlawfully solicited money from members of the public for their own gain.
How did suspects use Talam's phone?
In separate accounts, Musavi was accused of replacing Talam's SIM in order to solicit money from people for his benefit.
The other two, Nzomo and Mutemi, also faced separate charges.
Mutemi was accused of making use of an identity card belonging to the first accused, Nzomo, to register a SIM card and activate a mobile phone without authority.
Nzomo also faced charges for permitting Mutemi to have an identity card issued to him, which was used to register and activate a phone handset for SIM card registration and replacement.
In her ruling, Alego stated that the facts will be read to Musavi on August 20, while granting bond of KSh 500,000 plus a surety of a similar amount, or a cash bail of KSh 250,000 plus two contact persons, for the first and second accused persons, Nzomo and Mutemi.
The matter will be mentioned tomorrow, August 20.
Is Talam still in custody?
This came weeks after Talam received a blow after the court extended his stay in police custody.
Talam was one of the suspects who were linked to the murder of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang, who died in police custody.
Kibera High Court was set to deliver the ruling in Talam's case on September 26, to determine whether he and five other co-accused would be released on bond or bail.
Source: Facebook
Talam's lawyer, Danstan Omari, called on Justice Diana Kavedza to consider releasing him and his counterparts on favourable bail.
The city lawyer also took the opportunity to present Talam's interdiction letter, which was dated June 7, from the Nairobi regional police commander.
Omari decried that despite Talam maintaining his title as police officer, he was only receiving half of his salary.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
