Woman charged over alleged Sh145,000 Qatar nursing job recruitment scam

A woman has been charged before a Kenyan court with obtaining money by false pretences after police investigations linked her to an alleged recruitment scheme in which a nurse was defrauded of Sh145,000 in the promise of securing her a nursing job in Qatar.

Magdaline Wanjiku Mukuhi appeared before the court and denied a charge of obtaining money by false pretences on diverse dates between October 8 and December 27 last year at an unknown place within Kenya.

The prosecution alleges that Wanjiku, acting jointly with others who have not been charged, obtained Sh145,000 from Risper Wangui Wacera with intent to defraud her.

Wacera, a nurse, had expressed an interest in working in Qatar last year and informed her mother, who told her that she had a friend working in Qatar under Obwoge Recruiter Limited.

Following a report to the authorities, Wanjiku was arrested and taken to Shauri Moyo Police Station for processing before being arraigned in court.

Police said the other suspects remain at large and that efforts to trace and arrest them are continuing.

Wanjiku was released on a cash bail of Sh70,000 pending trial, which is scheduled for February 2027.

Elsewhere, three men have been detained in Nairobi’s Ruai area over allegations of robbery and gang rape after they allegedly lured a woman to a meeting through TikTok.

Emmanuel Arisa Oloo, Brian Gtaheru Ndritu and Ismail Arisa Ouru were arrested on August 4, 2026, and arraigned before the Makadara court.

In a miscellaneous application, a detective attached to Ruai Police Station told the court that the complainant, identified as M.K.M., received a friend request on TikTok in July. The two exchanged messages for several days before agreeing to meet.

M.K.M. was subsequently struck in the face with a hard object and lost consciousness.

When she regained consciousness several hours later, she allegedly found herself with two men, one of whom was the man she had met through TikTok.

The suspects allegedly demanded her mobile money PIN and threatened to harm her unless she contacted relatives and asked them to send money.

The complainant allegedly sent them Sh28,500 before the suspects gang-raped her. She was later rescued by members of the public.Police have asked the court for 21 days to finish investigations