Court fines ex-Nairobi Water employee Ksh.14.5M for earning Ksh.7M using forged certificate

The accused, Lawrence Masinde Barasa, who is a former ICT Assistant at the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC). PHOTO|COURTESY

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A former ICT Assistant at the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) has been convicted for fraudulently acquiring more than Ksh.7.1 million using a forged academic certificate.
Delivering judgment, Nairobi Anti-Corruption Principal
Magistrate Charles Ondieki found Barasa guilty on three counts of fraudulent
acquisition of public property, uttering a false document, and deceiving a
principal.
The court heard that Barasa forged a Diploma in Information
Technology certificate purporting it to be issued by the Eldoret Polytechnic,
which he used to secure employment at NCWSC.
Through the position, he unlawfully obtained salaries and
benefits totalling Ksh.7,123,963.
Magistrate Ondieki in his ruling fined Barasa Ksh.100,000
for fraudulent acquisition of public property and imposed a mandatory fine of
Ksh.14,347,926 — which is twice the amount illegally obtained.
On the second count of forgery, Barasa was acquitted due to
insufficient evidence but was however, convicted on the third count of uttering
a false document and fined Ksh.100,000 or serve one year in prison in default.
For the fourth count of deceiving a principal, the court
fined him a further Ksh.100,000, with a default sentence of one year’s
imprisonment. In case of default, all the sentences would run consecutively.
Barasa is allowed to appeal both the conviction and the
sentence within 14 days from the date of judgment.
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