Maria Wangari Kamunge, popularly known as Rish Kamunge, a well-known TikTok influencer, has been released on a personal bond of KSh 5 million pending investigations into allegations of defrauding hundreds of job seekers seeking employment abroad.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina on Friday March 28,2025 granted Kamunge bond after rejecting a request by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives to continue holding her in police cells for seven more days while they complete their investigations.
In delivering his ruling, Onyina ordered Kamunge to sign a personal bond and report to the police whenever required. He warned that failure to comply with these conditions could lead to the cancellation of her bond.
“I have not seen any compelling reasons adduced by the applicant to warrant the detention of the respondent (Kamunge) for seven days. The application is not merited and is hereby declined,” Onyina ruled.
Kamunge had spent the night at Capitol Hill Police Station while awaiting the court’s decision on the application by the DPP and DCI.
She is being investigated for allegedly obtaining money by false pretenses under Section 313 of the Penal Code, promising Kenyans job placements overseas that never materialized.
Kamunge operates an agency called Trustpin Verified Agent Ltd, which is accused of conning job seekers out of millions of shillings in exchange for promises of securing foreign employment.
According to the prosecution, Kamunge was arrested after several members of the public, who had paid large sums of money, protested and lodged complaints against her.
The agency allegedly required each job seeker to pay a facilitation fee ranging from KSh 200,000 to KSh 300,000.
Preliminary investigations suggest that Kamunge had been running the agency for some time and frequently traveled abroad, possibly to avoid detection as she scammed unsuspecting clients.
Victims of the scam told police that after paying the required fees, Kamunge failed to fulfill her promises and disappeared for months.
She was eventually traced to one of her offices in Nairobi’s Central Business District on March 26, 2025, after being elusive for two months.
“Between January 1, 2025, and March 20, 2025, various complainants lodged reports with the DCI, alleging that they paid large sums of money to Kamunge’s agency for assistance with overseas employment,” said CPL Joseph Karanja, one of the investigating officers.
The investigation is ongoing, and officers are yet to record witness statements or retrieve data from the Mpesa transactions that might be linked to the alleged fraud.
The prosecution had requested the court to detain Kamunge for seven more days to finalize the investigations, arguing that releasing her at this stage could put her life in danger due to the anger of the public.
However, Kamunge’s lawyer objected to the application, stating that she had already been attacked while performing her normal duties at her workplace.
