A Kitale musician, who was charged with stealing dead tycoon’s vehicle, has been found guilty of the offence.
Kitale Chief Magistrate Julius N’garng’ar said Sheila Wairimu alias Shay Diva Africa transferred the Toyota Landcruiser V8 at a very questionable time, only a day after the man’s death.
Wairimu will be sentenced on December 5 pending mitigation.
Witnesses
Five witnesses testified during the trial.
One of the witnesses, Chirag Bhatt, a manager of a hardware shop which was owned by Kumar, said Wairimu had consistently blackmailed the deceased that she would disclose their illicit relationship to his wife, who lives in the UK.
Bhatt said that is how she remained with the vehicle until Kumar’s death.
In her defence, Wairimu said the vehicle was transferred to her without her knowledge and that she learned about this when she accessed her NTSA account.
She said she has never attempted to illegally transfer ownership of the vehicle.
Wairimu, 30, was accused of accessing tycoon PJ Dodhia Kumar’s TIMs/NTSA account and transferring ownership of the vehicle to herself without following due processes of succession.
Kumar died in April 2021 aged 61. His family filed a complaint with the police after learning that Wairimu had taken the vehicle, saying he only gave it to her on a “use and return basis” because they were in a relationship.
NTSA records
According to records at the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), Wairimu filed a transfer of the log book by logging into the TIMs account of the deceased at 11.45 pm on April 26.
The transfer was authorised at 2pm the next day, but there were no supporting documents from the owner.
Police officers tracked Wairimu to Kitengela and towed the vehicle from her compound to Buruburu police station.
The vehicle was later towed to Kitale police station. Wairimu was arrested as she tried to get the vehicle back from the police.
“She initially made attempts through lawyers to block us from pursuing the matter but failed. She came on Friday in an attempt to recover the vehicle but we arrested her instead,” Mr Kihara told the Nation last year.
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