Man arrested for impersonating EACC Assistant Director to con Kenyans
Detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission have
arrested a man posing as the Commission’s Assistant Director of Intelligence
Operations to defraud Kenyans.
The suspected serial imposter, Kennedy Ochieng Agutu, was smoked out of his hideout in South C where two fake staff ID cards for EACC were recovered and an entity called Kenya Network Against Corruption (Director - Intelligence & Data Survey), under the suspect's name was found.
EACC Spokesperson Eric Ngumbi confirmed the arrest saying the suspect had been extorting millions of shillings from
unsuspecting victims, including senior state officials.
According to Ngumbi, the suspect would approach his victims
while pretending to be carrying out corruption investigations implicating them
after which he would ask for huge ransom promising to 'sort them out’ either
by skewing investigations or waiving potential criminal charges.
The suspect was escorted to EACC for processing before he
was later detained at Kilimani Police Station.
Following the arrest, the Commission has since raised
concern about an influx in the number of fraudsters posing as its detectives.
EACC says that this year, it has encountered over 350 cases of fake
detectives conning Kenyans while pretending to be officers of EACC or other law
enforcement agencies on official duty.
Some imposters, especially in Kakamega, Bungoma and Busia
counties, have established fake EACC offices where they charge for services.
“For instance, an entity by the name Anti-Corruption
Investigations Agency has allegedly been receiving money from the public to
address corruption-related conflicts,” Ngumbi stated.
The commission further notes that some imposters are issuing
fake EACC Integrity Clearance certificates for candidates seeking employment at
a fee, a service ordinarily offered by the Commission free of charge.
Others invade people’s business premises claiming that they
are inspecting compliance with various licensing requirements or counterfeit
goods.
The anti-corruption body thus appeals to citizens who encounter suspicious
persons to always notify EACC to avoid succumbing to such fraudulent traps.
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