A Cameroonian nation will remain in custody for six days pending a ruling on whether he will be charged again in Sh 3.3 million gold fraud case.
Senior Principal Magistrate Theresa Nyangena ruled that Fabonou Wassou Joseph De-Dieu aka Joseph Kabongo Malika will be detained at Capitol Hill Police Station until 23rd March 2026.
De-Dieu had been discharged on 2nd March 2026 by the then trial magistrate Dolphina Alego and his cash bail refunded.
However, the prosecution opposed the release of his passport on ground that they intended to appeal the decision.
De-Dieu is accused of conspiring to defraud Hayet Amri a sum of USD26000 by falsely pretending that he was in a position to sell to her twenty kilograms of gold, a fact he knew to be false.
He is alleged to have committed the offense between 1st May and 9th August 2024 in Kileleshwa, Nairobi, jointly with others not before court.
Unlike the previous charge sheet, the new charge sheet has another count of acquisition of proceeds of crime.
It is alleged that on or about 2nd June 2024 at the office of M/S Conrad Law Advocates LLP in Nairobi, De-Dieu received the USD 26,000 in Cash from Amri, which he knew or ought to reasonably known that the said money was or formed part of proceeds of crime.
His lawyer told the court that on 14th May 2025 the complainant Hayet Amri was before court, took the stand to testify and was stood down midway by the court for the prosecution to put its house in order.
As this happened, the court then set three hearing date in November 2025 in the presence of the complainant for the complainant to come and give her further testimony
“It is on record that the defendant was ready to proceed but the complainant was not in court and the reason was that she was yet to acquire a visa to come and attend court,” the lawyer submitted.
He added that at this juncture, there was no evidence placed before court to support this assertion. However, the court consulted the investigating officer at the time, through the prosecutor and confirmed availability of the complainant after 25th December.
Upon confirming availability, the court set the hearing on 6th January 2026 but the complainant still did not appear.
The court then delivered a ruling discharging De-Dieu on 2nd March 2026.
The lawyer added that the court gave the prosecution time to appeal, time which lapsed on 16th March 2026 with a mention date being set for 17th March.
It was his submission that the new charge sheet was defective and prayed that before his takes plea, the court makes a consideration on the charge sheet and order the prosecution to put their house in order.
However, the prosecution opposed the application saying that the complainant had been stood down by the court at 5pm due to time constraints.
The prosecution also added that Amri was unwell during the said hearing dates of November after which her visa expired.
“She is an Eritrean national and could not attend court without the visa,” the prosecutor said.
The court heard that the complainant has always been willing to see the matter to its conclusion.