US Police Pose As Hitman Going On A Date To Trap Kenyan Top Banker
The banker was accosted by state police, two days after a confidential informant went to state police reporting that Mwithiga wanted his help finding a hitman to execute the mission.
Marvin Chege 
A Kenyan national who is a former director of a leading bank in the country was arrested for his alleged involvement in a murder-for-hire scheme in the United States (US).
52-year-old Leonard Thuo Mwithiga was arrested on Monday, December 4 after being suspected of hiring a hitman to kill one of his family members to bring other family members back to Kenya.
U.S. media house NBC reported that the banker was accosted by state police, two days after a confidential informant went to state police reporting that Mwithiga wanted his help finding a hitman to execute the mission.
The informant told police that Mwithiga travelled back and forth between the US and Kenya between September 9 and December 1, inquiring severally regarding how to arrange for a hitman.
Top Kenyan banker, Leonard Thuo Mwithiga. /FILE
On October 26, Mwithiga contacted the man asking if he knew someone who could “hit” the family member and he wanted to “put that woman down," repeating the same request on November 3 to have the hitman “finish her.”
On December 1, he asked the informant to hire a hitman and said it was OK if she was injected with something that made her very sick, “like cancer".
A Connecticut State Police trooper who went undercover posed as the hitman who was supposed to take the victim on a date and drug her. According to Mwithiga, he wanted the woman murdered between January 28, 2024, and February 3, 2024, when he would be in Kenya, thus making it difficult to place him as a suspect.
The officer contacted the suspect who communicated his plan without knowledge that the officer was recording their conversation.
In turn, Mwithaga offered the ‘hit man’ $300 (Ksh45,714) in good faith ahead of the job and also offered the taxi driver $100 (Ksh15,238). After completion of the job, the hitman would get $4,000 (Sh609,520).
The funds were meant to be channelled through a taxi driver whom Mwithiga had first met in September and several other times as he travelled to and from Kenya.
Nonetheless, he was arrested and charged with criminal attempt/intimidation of a witness, conspiracy to commit murder and criminal attempt, murder with special circumstances.
Mwithiga, who had been staying at a Putnam hotel for the last month while he addressed legal matters, left his job in June and was planning to return to Kenya on Thursday, December 7 according to statements made in court.
Prosecutors argued that Mwithiga has limited ties to the community and is a flight risk and asked for bond to be set at $5 million (Ksh766.5 million)
His public defender said his client, who was a manager at a bank and has a degree from the University of Kenya, maintains his innocence and asked for bond to be set at $250,000 (Ksh38.3 million)
While appearing in court on Tuesday, it was revealed that Mwithiga was going through divorce proceedings and had allegedly come from Kenya to Connecticut to get his two children.
“This man had a plan to kill his wife,” a state prosecutor said in court on Tuesday. “I think he poses a serious threat not only to his wife but also his children.”
His wife and children allegedly left Kenya because he was abusive. Nonetheless, the bond was set at $5 million (Ksh766.5 million), but on condition that Mwithiga must surrender all firearms and the judge granted a full no-contact protective order for any victims and cooperating witnesses.
The judge noted that minor children are involved and as such, Mwithiga must stay 2,500 feet (762 metres) away from protected persons at all times.
If he posts bond, Mwithiga must surrender his passport and cannot leave Connecticut. He would need to be on GPS monitoring and be on around-the-clock lockdown.
The next court date was set for January 26, 2024.
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