Officers from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Tuesday arrested Shadrack Ndegwa on allegations of posing as an NIS, DCI or EACC operative to extort and exploit victims.
Addressing the media, EACC Deputy CEO Abdi Mohammud said that Ndegwa who is currently in custody further went ahead to extrot from victims as he claimed that he had connections with senior EACC officers including the CEO Twalib Mbarak.
Mohammud said that investigations have since been heightened after cases of members of the public complaining of persons posing as staff members of EACC, DCI, Police, NIS, and DPP were on the increase.
He said they the fraudsters are presenting themselves to targeted sections of the public purporting to be investigating corruption-related matters.
“The culprits’ in personifying the sleuths seek to extort money and other favours from their victims, purportedly to assist them out of the investigations,” he added.
The EACC Deputy CEO however said members of the public should be alert as the fraudsters used the same mode of operation. i.e. they pose as senior staff members of EACC including as the Chairperson, CEO, Deputy CEO, and Director of Investigation and then contact their victims (mostly high-ranking public officials) through telephone numbers citing certain investigations they claim to be undertaking and that they are in a position to assist. For this “assistance” they demand huge sums of money as “facilitation”.
Mohammud also clarified that the EACC doesn’t call people unless it is a follow-up in a case.
“We conduct our work by first doing an official letter to the persons involved to give us documentation or to avail themselves at the Integrity Centre or any commission offices. Follow-ups are also done using recognizable phone numbers,” he said.
On challenges faced by the commission in arresting the fraudsters, the EACC boss said that the fraudsters frequently change their numbers during their scamming sprees hence making tracing very difficult.
In conclusion, Mohammud urged senior public officials to avoid indulging the fraudsters by engaging in corruption. Members of the public were also urged to make sure they take the officer’s details a use the toll-free lines provided to ensure that they were indeed engaging with an EACC operative.
