Sleuths in Narok have launched a manhunt for a suspected fraudster accused of issuing a bad cheque worth Ksh936,000.
The cheque was paid to Maripet Ole Noontaye for 155 sheep, which he slaughtered at Neema slaughterhouse in Lucky Summer area in Nairobi over a month ago.
Narok County Criminal Investigations boss Mwenda Athaiba said the suspect committed the offence on March 22, 2023, in Nairobi. Athaiba says that police are pursuing the suspected criminal.
“Some two people have reported the matter to my office and the suspect is wanted for scamming them of close to Ksh1 million by depositing a bad cheque to their account and up to now he is just taking them round in circles,” Athaiba said.
Athaiba said the suspect issued a bouncing cheque payable by Absa Bank Kenya PLC, that was deposited to the client's bank account at Equity Bank but turned out to have insufficient funds.
This was confirmed on April 18, 2023, when Noontaye received a message from his bank that the cheque had been returned to the drawer since the account had no funds.
In an exclusive interview, Noontaye told K24 Digital that he, with his partner Lemashon Kool, bought the sheep in Narok and ferried them to Neema slaughterhouse in Lucky Summer for sale.
“We are demanding Ksh936,000 from him as the balance of the sale. We have reported the matter to the police in Narok and recorded a statement and police say they are looking for him,” Noontaye said.
Price for sheep meat
Noontaye says the businessman, Abdul Rahim Alhariri, accompanied by his partner only known as Omar, came to the slaughterhouse and agreed to buy their sheep at Ksh540 per Kg.
"After we agreed he ordered the slaughter of the 155 sheep, directing us to store the meat inside a giant deep freezer in the facility. After slaughtering, we got 2,103.9kgs, which sold at sh540 per Kg translating to Ksh1.13 million. Out of this, Alhariri paid Ksh200,000 cash through the account and promised to issue a cheque for the balance," Noontaye says.
“After slaughtering, he told us that he was rushing to Eastleigh in Nairobi to change dollars to Kenyan money, but shortly, he called to inform us the exchange rate was too high and we should wait till the following day to get our money,” said Kool.
Kool said that never happened as they were taken in circles for one week, as the buyer calls went unanswered until they lured the buyer through another livestock trader to Kariobangi slaughterhouse in the pretence of doing business with him.
“It’s then that we caught up with him and a bitter argument ensued between us before he led us to a hotel in Westlands in Nairobi where he issued the bad cheque through his partner Omar,” Kool says.
That was the last time they saw him.
When K24 Digital contacted Alhariri, he complained that the money he was expecting from a Dubai bank to be able to pay his debts was held up by the Central Bank of Kenya investigating its origin.
“I have my Ksh3.5 million being held at the Central Bank of Kenya, as they are investigating its origin and they are in communication with the Dubai-based bank so that the money will be cleared then I will pay them,” Alhariri sain on the phone.
