Kenyan jailed in UK for stealing Sh6 million

A Kenyan woman has been jailed by a UK court for two years for stealing millions of shillings from an elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

The court said Kisella Hillman had ‘systematically ‘helped herself’ with Sh6,797,182 belonging to Kathleen Brindle whom she had been entrusted to look after.

“...shortly after the money disappeared, you travelled to Kenya. You say the money went to an orphanage in Kenya, but have not been able to provide a scrap of evidence to support that. The sad fact is that you are a congenital liar...” said judge Barnes.

The 27-year-old denied charges of stealing £4,000 cash belonging to Brindle. She also denied a theft of £15,500 and a third theft of £32,000, totaling Sh6,797,182. But the woman was found guilty of all three charges following a six-day trial at Taunton Crown Court and sentenced on May 19.

Congenital liar

Kisella was tasked with looking after the ailing woman but somehow brainwashed her to the point of siphoning cash from her account.

Kisella even convinced the elderly woman that she was her granddaughter.

She used the stolen funds to pay for time in a recording studio and support an orphanage owned by her mother in Kitui.

Interestingly, the Kenyan woman is a director at Wattle Blossom, a Sh10,000 per night tented camp in Athi River.

During the trial, prosecutor Nikki Coombe told Crown Court that Kisella had been employed to look after Mrs Brindle whose mental health was deteriorating but she instead took advantage of the granny by ‘raiding’ her account. The court heard that members of staff at her bank become concerned when Kisella bought Mrs Brindle to the bank for a transaction.

“Staff were worried,” Mrs Coombe said. “They said she seemed less confident, less aware of her financial situation and they were concerned she was being taken advantage of.”

“They asked her why she was withdrawing the money and why she wanted to close the account.”

“The defendant replied ‘It’s OK, Grandma. It’s written down at home.’”

Though the bank staff were concerned, the transaction was approved. The money was handed over in £50 notes and put into a rucksack carried by Kisella, who told staff there was a bodyguard waiting outside to escort them home. Luckily, an employee of the Brindle family witnessed everything and raised a red flag. When she was arrested, Kisella told them the money had been given to her as a gift by the old woman.

Kisella claimed she had spent some of the money in a recording studio and had donated the rest to an orphanage, run by her mother, Sarah Hillman, in Kenya. Kisella, who has a degree in music and English literature from Guildhall School of Music and Drama started working for the family as a nanny, before she was asked to be a care giver for the 85-year old.

dodongo@standardmedia.co.ke