A Kenyan woman was yesterday charged with allegedly lying to her American lover that her son had died and obtaining Sh3 million from him for the burial.

Joyce Wachira is accused of cheating Edward Stephen Thaihelmer on diverse dates last November while in Westlands, Nairobi.

She denied the charges before Kibera senior resident magistrate Jane Kamau.

According to court documents, Thaihelmer visited the Coast for the first time as a tourist and suffered a neck injury for which he needed treatment.

He met Wachira who promised to help him get its assistance. The tourist returned to the US but kept in frequent touch with Wachira.

Thaihelmer and the accused fell in love. He returned to Kenya and the two rented a house in Mombasa.

They visited Wachira's family in Kitui and Nyeri before the man went back to the United States.

When Thaihelmer came back to Kenya again, he says he found Wachira had turned into a drunkard who harassed him until they were evicted from their apartment.

The man went back to the US and while there the accused requested him to pay her rent for an apartment in Westlands going for Sh 360,000 monthly. The complainant refused as he felt betrayed.

Wachira threatened to expose him to the global media and at some point attempted to smear him through a certain local media house.

Wachira demanded money for upkeep but the American again refused, saying he was not sure about the paternity of the child the woman said was his.

The accused became furious and threatened to expose Thaihelmer on the internet.

The accused later told the complainant that the child died from spinal complications and she needed money for burial.

Thaihelmer was stressed and decided to send her money totalling Sh3 million through Paypal.

The magistrate yesterday released Wachira on a cash bail of Sh300,000 pending hearing of the case on August 20.