Police officer among five suspects arrested in botched Ksh.28M bank robbery

Detectives in Bungoma County on Saturday arrested five suspects including a police officer in a botched bank heist in Busia town.

Three suspects were arrested inside the Kenya Commercial Bank, Busia town Branch as they tried to withdraw Ksh.28.5 million from someone’s account while two others were later arrested in Ahero, Kisumu County  as they tried to escape  from the police.

According to police, the suspects presented a fake ID card not reflective of the account owners raising suspicion.

“The bank manager alerted the police and they immediately visited the area and arrested the suspects,” said Busia County Commander John Nyoike.

The suspects were identified as Bhavin Ramesh and Vijay Jamnaday, who presented themselves as clients, Desmond Lusweti, their assistant, Police constable Kipkirui Tanui, attached to the Wilson Airport Police Station in Nairobi and Alex Kimeli who was identified as a businessman.

Three of the suspects; Ramesh, Jamnaday and Lusweti, alighted from the vehicle they were traveling in, suspected to have come from Nairobi, and headed to the bank to effect the fraudulent transaction while police constable Kipkirui and businessman Kimeli waited for their kill in the standby car.

The arrest of the trio in the bank triggered efforts by the duo in the getaway car to take off, a chase that ended in Ahero, Kisumu County where they were finally arrested.

Busia County Commander John Nyoike cautioned Kenyans with dormant accounts against staying for long before checking on them.

The suspects are expected to be presented in court on Monday to face bank robbery, forgery and fraud charges.