A businesswoman, who allegedly bought a mobile phone stolen from a victim of robbery with violence, refurbished and sold it to a parliamentary staff, is facing charges of conveying suspected stolen property.

Charity Wangu is charged alongside her brother Alfred Macharia who allegedly refurbished the phone before it was sold and are accused of contravening section 323 of the Penal Code.

Charges against them state that the suspects were found with mobile phones reasonably suspected to have been stolen.

The Parliament’s official who had allegedly bought complainant's (Catherine Muringi Mwangi) phone at Ms Wangu's shop along Moi Avenue-Nairobi, led police officers to the shop after he was arrested at the Parliament’s canteen with the phone.

Ms Wangu and Mr Macharia were escorted to Kayole police station where Ms Muringi had reported and the suspects were found with the two phones that police officers believe were stolen.  

The two(2) were arrested alongside robbery suspect Lewis Gachoki who is suspected to be among four(4) people who robbed Ms Muringi of her mobile phone worth Sh48,000 and Sh6,000 among them personal items in Kayole, Nairobi on September 1, 2024.

Mr Gachoki is facing charges of committing the robbery contrary to section 296 (2) of the Penal Code where he and his accomplices yet to be arrested are accused of threatening to use actual violence on Ms Muringi during the alleged robbery. She was attacked after alighting from a taxi that dropped her in the area.

She reported the matter to police and later, during the investigations, the cops established that the mobile phone was being used by the parliamentary official.

The official aided the police to arrest the suspects after allegedly tricking Mr Gachoki to the shop.

The suspects denied the charges before Principal Magistrate Eric Mutunga.

Ms Muringi who lost her phone in the robbery was in court to withdraw the charges against the suspect, but prosecution counsel Joy Kaaria declined and told the court that she needed to consult with her seniors before consenting to the request by the complainant.

Mr Mutunga remanded the suspects in custody until November 13, 2024, when he will set their bail and bond terms.

Police have so far identified owners of several other phones found at Ms Wangu’s shop and she is likely to face additional charges including robbery with violence once the owners of the phones record statements with the police in the ongoing investigations.