Man Jailed for 3 Months after Failing to Return Sh16,000 Wrongfully Sent to him on M-Pesa

A Nairobi court has sentenced a man to three months in jail after he reportedly failed to return cash sent mistakenly to his M-Pesa number.

Reports indicate that Cyrus Nzoka Maithya received over Sh16,000 on his M-Pesa, but declined to return it to the sender Hariet Karimi prompting her to seek legal action.

Appearing before Nairobi Senior Principal magistrate Martha Nazushi, Nzoka pleaded guilty and was offered a chance to refund the money, but he noted that he had already used it.

“Cyrus Nzioka Maithya on November 3, 2020, in Nairobi otherwise in the course of stealing dishonesty received Sh16463 in your M-Pesa account knowing or having reasons to believe it was stolen,” his charge sheet read in part.

Cyrus Nzoka Maithya at Milimani Law Courts [Photo: Courtesy]

Following his plea, he requested for leniency and forgiveness, arguing that he has a family that depends solely.

However, in her ruling, the magistrate directed that he be sentenced to three months in jail or pay a fine of Sh20,000.

The case marks a major milestone in regards to mobile money transfer where users are prone to confusing numbers and sending it to the wrong recipient.

A few years ago, leading telecommunication service provider Safaricom made an update to its M-Pesa service and introduced a function that enables one see the recipient and cancel a transaction, if the money is sent to the wrong person.

This has tremendously reduced cases of people sending money to the wrong recipients.