Businessman Joel Mwangi Wainaina, who was accused of being a proxy in a microfinance fraud case thought to involve Sh478 million, has died following a mysterious October 20, 2026 accident that also killed a mechanic.
According to a police report seen by _the Nation_, Mr Wainaina had parked his car in Ruiru town and had stepped out when a lorry ran over him and his mechanic before speeding off.
The lorry driver was later traced and arrested. Detectives are actively investigating multiple claims relating to how the businessman died.
Family funeral notices state that Wainaina, of Alpharm and TopPharm Chemists, was involved in a tragic road accident in Ruiru on October 20, 2026, and despite efforts to aid his recovery, succumbed to his injuries on October 27, 2026.
He was buried on November 4, 2026, at Mikungi, North Kinangop.
Before his death, Mr Wainaina was, in the ongoing Fanikisha Microfinance court case papers, linked to Ruth Muthoni, one of the suspects in the 2024 theft of Sh1.5 billion from Equity Bank.
In that dispute, majority shareholder Geoffrey Kariuki Gathimbu alleges that Wainaina expressed interest in acquiring a minority stake in Fanikisha Microfinance Bank.
Gathimbu says he registered Wainaina with 49 per cent shares, retaining 51 per cent.
Gathimbu later alleged in court filings that Wainaina was never the real buyer, but a front for Ms Muthoni, and that she subsequently took de facto control of the institution.
Sources in the DCI’s Banking Fraud Investigations Unit put the price of that stake at roughly Sh478 million.
Ms Muthoni has denied being the mastermind of the Equity Bank heist and denied wrongdoing in the Fanikisha dispute.
The allegations remain unproven in court.