Eight suspects involved in USD 439 trillion mega fraud targeting two foreign businessmen from the Netherlands have been arrested in a well-orchestrated trap by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) sleuths.
Moses Otieno, Peter Aura, Brian Waweru, John Kalombo, Peter Kisanya, Noah Ouma, Charity Njeri and Mercy Cheptoo who have been on DCI radar were arrested Wednesday and are in police custody as investigations continue.
The DCI Operations Support Unit detectives had been trailing the suspects in a major operation that led them to a warehouse located in Nairobi where they nabbed them.
The arrest and shocking colossal amount of money which is a trending topic has ignited mixed reactions on X.
Several boxes stashed with fake US dollars suspected stolen jungle fatigues for APS officers, military boots, and customs reflector jackets among other recoveries were seized.
In the 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.
Allegedly, the complainants had entered into a cash-on-transit deal involving USD 439 trillion destined for Dubai from the Central Bank of Togo.
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.
“Booking a flight to the country, the foreign nationals landed at the Jomo Kenyatta Intn’l Airport (JKIA) hoping to clear the required duty fee at once. Unbeknownst to the fraudsters that detectives had got wind of the ongoings, a contact person led the two foreigners at the warehouse where the purported consignment was being held” the DCI said on X.
Unaware the detectives had laid a trap for them, the eight suspects got busy around the warehouse convincing their targets to part with the USD 36,000, only for the operations team to storm the premises.
“Moses Otieno, Peter Aura, Brian Waweru, John Kalombo, Peter Kisanya, Noah Ouma, Charity Njeri and Mercy Cheptoo were all cornered and led away into police cells” DCI explained.
The operation is ongoing with the two foreign nationals under probe to shed light on the business deal in question.
