Nairobi: Eight suspects arrested in Ksh.439 trillion fake money syndicate

Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives on Wednesday arrested eight suspects linked to a Ksh.439 trillion colossal fraud scheme targeting two Dutch nationals.

Moses Otieno, Peter Aura, Brian Waweru, John Kalombo, Peter Kisanya, Noah Ouma, Charity Njeri and Mercy Cheptoo were arrested at a warehouse along Mombasa Road where several pallets containing counterfeit US dollars, suspected stolen jungle fatigues meant for police officers and customs reflector jackets among other items were recovered.

"In this orchestrated fraudulent scheme, the foreigners were contacted through a WhatsApp call by a number registered in the name 'Canopy Shield Agencies', by a caller who informed them that their consignment of 40 pallets had been held at the Kenya Customs Warehouse pending duty fee payment of USD 36,000 (Ksh.5.5 million)," the DCI said in a statement.

Within hours of receiving the call, the duo reportedly travelled to Kenya to clear the supposed customs fees.

The complainants later told police that they had reportedly entered into a cash on transit agreement with the Central Bank of Togo to transport the Ksh.439 trillion to Dubai prior to receiving the said phone call, hence their hurried response.  

"The caller who posed as a customs officer convinced the complainants that the first batch of 40 pallets contained USD 4 billion and that they were being flown through Kenya to facilitate their clearance and smooth entry to Dubai," said

When the two foreigners arrived, a contact person guided them to the warehouse where the supposed consignment was stored.

"Unbeknownst to the fraudsters that detectives had got wind of the on-goings.  As the eight suspects got busy around the warehouse convincing their targets to part with the USD 36,000, the operations team stormed the premises," said the DCI.

"The operation is ongoing with the two foreign nationals being interviewed to shed light on the business deal in question."