Cunning Embakasi woman charged with forging M-Pesa rent payment texts worth Sh92,000

A 35-year-old woman is facing charges of fraudulent misuse of electronic data after allegedly using fake M-Pesa messages to prove payment of rent amounting to Sh92,000.

Caroline Omondi is accused of editing and sending forged M-Pesa transaction messages from her mobile phone to her caretaker, Justus Kenyanya.

The alleged offences occurred at her residence in Nyama Villa Estate, located in Embakasi Central Sub-County, where she claimed to be paying Sh15,000 per month over a six-month period. In reality, she had not made the payments, causing her landlord, Moreka Oruke Kipon, to lose a total of Sh92,000.

Omondi is now facing charges under Section 38(2) of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act of 2018, relating to the fraudulent use of electronic data.

She appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Stephanie Bett at the Makadara Law Courts and pleaded not guilty. She was released on a cash bail of Sh50,000 or an alternative bond of Sh100,000.

According to the prosecution, the accused had been receiving funds from her husband for both rent and personal upkeep, but had allegedly failed to remit the rent to the landlord.

The caretaker, became suspicious in August after noticing discrepancies in the M-Pesa messages provided by Omondi. When he requested a full M-Pesa statement, it revealed that the accused had not been making any rental payments as claimed. She made a genuine payment in August after a warning, but allegedly resumed the fraud in September the following month.

Kenyanya reported the matter to the landlord, who confirmed that no payments had been made.

The case is set to be mentioned on November 25, 2025.