As his retirement plan, Tom Ikonya had planned to explore the town and start a boiled meat business.
After losing Ksh 700,000 to a woman he met in a club in just one week, Tom Ikonya is in turmoil financially and emotionally after being conned by his “sweetheart”.
His recollection is that he consumed about eight beers and paid Ksh 6,320 for the bill. A woman who had joined the table remained by his side the entire time, cautioning him to take care and be alert.
He spent the whole day and part of the night with friends; both male and female, buying them drinks like a boss. At one point, he says his table had become like a small party, celebrating and merry making like it was on X-mas eve.
Tom had planned to check into a room when the pub closed at 10.30 p.m., but the woman insisted on hosting him. He consented to go to her place because she seemed genuinely concerned for his well-being.
But like a wolf in sheep’s wool, she left the old man broke and in stress after squandering Ksh 700,000 in seven days; a day after another.
Despite a friend’s warning the old man couldn’t get enough of advances towards him, like a magnet, Mr. Ikonya was pulled into a world of sweet kisses; she continued to kiss him repeatedly, and the next thing he knew, he was in her living room.
Tom Ikonya’s daily pattern consisted of waking up, praying with the woman, getting ready, taking a shower, eating breakfast, discussing various issues, going out to different bars, and coming back home in the evening.
To execute her con game, she prepared for him a budget of Ksh 250 000 to launch his business of selling boiled meat.
The woman revealed she was looking for a business location and staff on the fourth day. She also requested Ksh 50,000 for an emergency and Ksh 100,000 to pay for the business license. He agreed, she even had access to his ATM.
Ikonya made the decision to withdraw enough money at once on the fifth day since he found the frequent ATM withdrawals to be tiresome.
They got together at the bar on the sixth day. His ATM card and a parcel containing his clothes were returned to him by the woman. He thought she would return after attending to her “emergency” but it never happened.
Since her phone was off, he continued to order beers while he waited for her to return. It started dawning on Tom Ikonya that things were not alright.
He made the decision to dash to the ATM and quickly withdraw some cash in order to pay the bill, which was now at Ksh 3,100.
At the ATM, he noticed that his balance was Ksh 8.78. Realizing he’d lost everything, he immediately proceeded to the Maragua police station to report the incident.
