Three men have been arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts over an alleged plot to illegally unlock M-Kopa phones before customers had cleared their loan repayments.
The accused Jeremiah Njoroge, Marvine Wanguno, and Victor Kimani denied five charges, among them theft and handling suspected stolen property.
Court documents allege that on August 4, 2025, the trio stole six mobile phones worth KSh 800,000 from M-Kopa Kenya Limited, including two Samsung A13s, a Samsung A12, Samsung A03s, Samsung S24, and a Nokia GS0. On the same day, they are accused of taking three high-end smartphones from Mophone Kenya Limited a Samsung Note 20 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and another Samsung Note 20valued at KSh 1 million.
An alternative count claims they were found in possession of four phones a Samsung A04s, Samsung A05, and two Samsung A03s valued at KSh 1.2 million and belonging to Watu Credit, knowing or suspecting they were stolen.
Police say the suspects were arrested after a tip-off led investigators to a shop along Tom Mboya Street, Nairobi, where they allegedly found five M-Kopa phones in the process of being unlawfully unlocked.
Defence lawyers asked the court for leniency, terming the prosecution’s proposed KSh 1 million cash bail excessive and seeking a pre-bail report.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Dolphina Alego granted each accused a bond of KSh 2 million or an alternative cash bail of KSh 1 million. The case will be mentioned on August 27, 2025, before Court 3 for pre-trial.
