The Chief Executive Officer, two directors and two employees of Barracuda Airways were on Monday arraigned before Milimani Court on charges of fraudulently acquiring millions from unsuspecting Kenyans, under false pretense of being in a position to secure them jobs as cabin crew and pilots.
Kimeria Boddie Maina, the CEO, and four others appeared before Resident Magistrate Tobiko Sinkiyian who released the former on a cash bail of Sh100,000 while the rest were detained for a day to enable police conclude ongoing investigations.
Maina is accused of obtaining Sh4 million from seven people who deposited the amount into a Standard Chartered Bank account belonging to Barracuda Airways holding limited.
"In September last year I was called for co-pilot interviews and was among six people who passed the interview," one investor who fell victim told a local daily.
John Majiwa, Barracuda's director is reported to have conned at least 40 investors of more than Sh200 million, each investor was required to pay Sh2.7 million each, in order to attend a special training in South Africa. The money was meant to cater for their training upon employment.
"He told us Ruto and Mama Ngina had shares in the company. Being that my uncle introduced me to the company I had no doubt that it was a legitimate company, she said.
The court was told that when the complainants later visited the company’s offices, they found it closed with their efforts to reach the officials, unsuccessful.
Majiwa, Elizabeth Kinyanjui, Stella Amaya and Barbara Alwena are scheduled to return to court on Tuesday when the prosecution is expected to bring the court up to speed on the status of the account into which the defrauded funds were deposited.
Last Friday, the state obtained an order freezing the account of which Amaya is a signatory and whose cheque books were found in Alwena’s possession according to the prosecution’s case.
Majiwa was arrested by Flying Squad officers on Saturday in the Nairobi CBD while heading to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport reportedly trying to flee the country.
It not only just ordinary Kenyans who were conned by majiwa however, he reportedly defraud Weston Hotel, owned by the Deputy President, of over Sh56 million after conducting two-weeks training session for some of the cabin crew members.
Another hotel by the name Dove in Naivasha also reportedly fallen victim, after he issued them with bouncing cheques.
The state’s argument for the continued holding of the four was that if freed, they were likely to interfere with investigations and the aforementioned account.