A Nairobi court has released 25-year-old Seth Mwabe Okwanyo, a university dropout accused of hacking into a betting company and stealing millions, on cash bail.
On Wednesday, September 3, Magistrate Benmark Ekhubi dismissed a prosecution request to keep Okwanyo in custody for 20 more days, instead granting him a bond of Ksh1 million or an alternative cash bail of Ksh500,000.
Okwanyo is facing accusations of orchestrating a Ksh11.4 million cyber fraud by exploiting the Pesalink platform. Investigators allege that he used his IT skills and a fake Telegram bot to siphon funds through multiple transactions.
The self-trained cybersecurity consultant, however, denied any wrongdoing. In court, he claimed he was merely testing a software he had developed and was shocked when the money was deposited into his account.
Okwanyo was arrested on August 30 at an apartment in Tatu City by the DCI officers. He is charged under the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act.
In his ruling, Magistrate Ekhubi cautioned the suspect against tampering with ongoing investigations.
“I therefore ask you not to in any way interfere with the investigations. If you interfere, you will be breaching the condition of your bond,” the magistrate warned.
The case is still under investigation, and more details are expected as the trial progresses in the coming weeks.
