Financial regulators warn of rise in fraud schemes

The regulators of Kenya’s financial sector have warned of a rise in fraudulent and unregulated financial schemes as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread.

In a joint statement, the regulators – who include the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) – asked Kenyans to abstain from conducting business with unregulated outfits.

“Some of the fraudulent entities have styled themselves as online global networking companies that seek to recruit members of the public to join and make cash deposits purportedly to buy shares in the company,” the regulators noted.

This is the third joint statement by the regulators in little over two years as the country seemingly becomes fertile ground for fraud schemes.

In September last year, CMA warned Kenyans against dealing in the InterWeb Global Fortune Limited following the discovery of suspect trades.

The authority in the same month froze bank accounts belonging to the Women Investing In Entrepreneurship (WIIE) incubator as part of investigations into its capital raising initiatives in the country.

The incubator had been promising client returns of up to 1000 per cent on annual basis raising eye brows from the capital markets regulator.

On its part, CBK has been conducting widespread scrutiny especially on forex exchange bureaus and has since pulled a number of players from operations.

The regulators have called on Kenyans to assure the authenticity of financial schemes identified through regulator licenses less they are defrauded off their hard earned monies.

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Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Capital Markets Authority (CMA) fraud

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