Several revellers were this year charged with obtaining credit by false pretences for incurring ridiculous bills after dining and drinking expensive liquor in restaurants which they later were unable to pay.
For instance, Nairobi Diaries actress Diana Clara Ojenge popularly known as Mishi Dorah was in June charged at the Kibera law courts with obtaining Sh152,550 credit by false pretences after dining at Golden Ice Bistro at Nextgen Mall on Mombasa Road in Nairobi on the night of May 26 and the morning of May 27.
The court heard that she ordered two chicken breasts valued at Sh3,000, one cocktail drink valued at Sh2,000, two bottles of 300ml coke valued at Sh500, a litre of mineral water valued at Sh400 and three bottles of Redbull energy drinks valued at Sh1,650.
She also ordered six bottles of Belaire Luxe 750ml valued at Sh75,000 and seven Hennessy VS 750ml valued at Sh70,000 which she took with a group of friends she was partying with by falsely pretending that she would pay a fact she knew to be false.
She denied the charges before principal magistrate Monicah Maroro and pleaded for lenient bail and bond terms.
Ms Ojenge was granted a cash bail of Sh50,000 and an alternative bond of Sh100,000 with a surety of a like sum.
But she spent a couple of weeks in remand before friends raised cash and bailed her out.
In the same court, two women who incurred a Sh147,250 bill after drinking expensive liquor at a bar in Kilimani where they also ate and failed to pay were in March charged with obtaining credit by false pretences. They are Delilah Raila and Ivy Cheptoo.
The two were also charged with creating a disturbance in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace by allegedly insulting Gregory Nzamba of Black Stars Lounge and revellers at the restaurant.
They were accused of committing the offences on March 6 where they allegedly insulted everyone at the restaurant while drunk.
The two became unruly at around 2:30am and allegedly started creating a disturbance, hurling insults at Mr Nzamba saying they would not pay for the drinks they had taken.
Cash bail
Mr Nzamba tried to calm them down and told them to look at their bill but they reportedly told him off.
When they later sobered up, they declined to pay the bill and were reported to officers at Kilimani police station who arrested them.
At Kibera law courts, they denied the charges before senior resident magistrate Renee Kitangwa.
They were granted a cash bail of Sh30,000 each.
In another incident, a retired military man who failed to settle a bill of Sh51,600 for alcohol and food he ordered for himself and other revellers at a bar in Lang’ata to celebrate President William Ruto’s victory in the August presidential elections was also charged with fraudulently incurring credit.
Simon Macharia Mwangi was on August 17 charged with obtaining credit by false pretences at a bar along Magadi road in Lang’ata, Nairobi on August 15, 2022.
Nairobi Diaries actress Diana Clara Ojenge alias Mishi Dorah (left) and Delilah Raila and Evy Cheptoo at the Kibera law courts on diverse dates.
On that day, Mr Mwangi is reported to have asked the restaurant’s management to serve all patrons at the establishment their favourite drinks immediately Dr Ruto was announced as the winner of the presidential election.
Food and drinks
Revellers at the restaurant then ordered assorted alcoholic drinks and food. Mr Mwangi is alleged to have ordered food and beer for friends he had turned up with and told other patrons to invite their friends for free beer to celebrate Dr Ruto’s victory.
The accused failed to pay up after the food and drinks were served. It was at that point that the establishment’s management bundled him into a car and took him to Hardy Police Station.
At the Kibera Law Courts, where he was arraigned before Senior Principal Magistrate Philip Mutua, Mr Mwangi pleaded guilty to the charges but claimed that the bill was incurred by his friends.
He was, however, presumed to have denied the charges and granted a cash bail of Sh40,000.
And this month, a 40-year-old man who ordered food and drinks worth Sh24,600 for himself and friends at a city pub and failed to pay pleaded guilty to charges of obtaining credit by false pretences at the Makadara Law Courts on Tuesday, December 20.
Evans Owino admitted charges that he incurred a debt or liability of the amount from Julia Carol Muthoni by falsely pretending he was in a position to pay for food and assorted drinks he consumed with friends at the East Park Pub in Nairobi on December 18.
Mr Owino incurred the debt at Ms Muthoni’s pub where he enjoyed meals and drinks in the company of friends.
He pleaded guilty to charges of obtaining credit by false pretences contrary to Section 316 (a) of the penal code when he appeared before Principal Magistrate Hellen Okwani.
The court heard that Mr Owino went to the pub and ordered food and assorted drinks which he took with his friends.
He was then asked to pay by a waitress who was serving them but the accused person could not pay.
The matter was reported to Kamukunji police station and Mr Owino was immediately arrested.
Police investigations established that he has been doing the same at clubs in the area.
Mr Owino was convicted on his own plea of guilty and pleaded for more time to settle the bill instead of being sent to jail.
Ms Okwani gave him until Friday, December 23 to pay Ms Muthoni the bill failure to which he would be sent to jail. BY DAILY NATION