Three relatives suspect robe a bank KSh 52 million from Thika have been granted bond by a Thika court

Halford Munene Murakaru, 32, his brother Charles Mwangi Murakaru, 30 and their 32-year-old cousin Julius Ndung’u Wainaina have however denied the charges.  Chief Magistrate Theresa Murigi ordered that each of the accused be released on a bond of Sh 4 million with a surety of similar amount.

The three are charged breaking into the bank between November 18th and 20th this year, through an underground tunnel and stealing KSh 52,650,000.

They face a second count that on November 25 at Joyland estate of Juja Township, Kiambu County they were found with KSh 17,135,000, 3,660 Euros, 340 pound sterling, 1,311 US dollars 271,000 Tanzanian shillings, 95 Australian dollars, 40 SA Rand and 20,000 Ugandan shillings stolen from the bank.

The magistrate said the prosecution led by State Counsel Stella Odagi had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused would abscond court if released on bond, besides influencing investigations.

 “The prosecution had argued that the investigating officer had information that the accused persons were planning to leave the country but there are no compelling reasons to prove this including producing an affidavit in court” Ms Murigi said.

She said the burden of proof to deny the suspects bond lay with the State and not the accused persons who are entitled to bail terms under the constitution.

 “The accused should not be denied bond on flimsy grounds and the prosecution has not demonstrated otherwise,” the court ruled.

Besides the bond terms, the court ordered that the suspects should not leave the country without court permission.The trio who are all university graduates are represented by Zacky Odegi who had applied for bond saying they were not likely to flee the country or abscond as claimed by the prosecutor.

The case will be heard on March 29th next year with a mention on December 14.

The three have been appearing in court covering their faces with hoods to avoid being captured by media cameras.

On Monday last week, Thika KCB management discovered that thugs had dug a 30-meter tunnel into the vault and made away with over Sh 50 million in what appeared like a movie script.

The thieves had dug the tunnel from an adjacent commercial building which is right across the Thika police station but no one had noticed any suspicious activity.

They had reportedly rented three stalls and took about six months before tunneling into the bank’s strong room.