A Deputy Director of Audit at the Office of the Auditor General has been charged with allegedly using a forged university degree certificate to secure employment and subsequently receive more than KSh28.4 million in salaries.

Hannah Wambui Maura, also known as Anna Wambui Mwaura, is accused of fraudulently acquiring public property amounting to KSh28,468,754.14 between February 3, 2013 and May 23, 2024.

According to the charge sheet, Maura allegedly secured employment at the Office of the Auditor General, formerly the Kenya National Audit Office, using a forged Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting Option), Second Class Honours Upper Division degree certificate purportedly issued by Mount Kenya University on August 20, 2010.

The prosecution alleges that the Office of the Auditor General relied on the certificate in employing Maura, who subsequently rose from Assistant Manager-Audit to Deputy Director-Audit.

She faces a charge of fraudulent acquisition of public property contrary to Section 45(1)(a), as read with Section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003.

The charge sheet further accuses Maura of providing false information to a public entity in July 2013 by stating in her curriculum vitae that she held a Bachelor of Commerce-Accounting Option degree from Mount Kenya University, obtained in 2010.

The prosecution alleges that the information was false and that Maura knew it to be false when she used it to secure employment at the Office of the Auditor General.

She also faces another count under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act for allegedly providing false information to the Office of the Auditor General on February 3, 2014.

According to the charge sheet, Maura stated in an employment application form that she was a holder of a Bachelor of Commerce-Accounting Option degree from Mount Kenya University, which she allegedly pursued between 2008 and 2010.

The prosecution claims she knew, or ought to have known, that the information was false.

Maura is further charged with forgery contrary to Sections 345 as read with 349 of the Penal Code. The charge alleges that on an unknown date and at an unknown place in Kenya, she forged a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting Option), Second Class Honours Upper Division degree certificate in the name of Anna Wambui Mwaura.

The certificate was allegedly presented as a genuine document issued by Mount Kenya University, according to the charge sheet.

She also faces a charge of uttering a false document contrary to Section 353 of the Penal Code.

The prosecution alleges that on or about February 4, 2014, in Nairobi County, while employed as an Assistant Manager-Audit at the Office of the Auditor General, Maura knowingly and fraudulently presented the alleged forged Bachelor of Commerce degree certificate as a genuine certificate issued by Mount Kenya University.

In a separate count, she is accused of deceiving her principal contrary to Section 41(2), as read with Section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.

The prosecution alleges that on February 3, 2014, she provided false information to the Office of the Auditor General by stating in an employment application form that she held the Bachelor of Commerce-Accounting Option degree from Mount Kenya University.

She pleaded not guilty and was released on cash bail Ksh 450k by Anti corruption Magistrate Harrison Baraza