Nameless
Elder Lister
A Muthara Member of County Assembly (MCA) aspirant was arrested in Nakuru county on suspicion of mobile money fraud targeting mobile money shop operators.
Rift Valley DCI boss, Meme Mwenda, confirmed the arrest noting that the suspect was in custody being interrogated for allegedly robbing mobile money agents.
The suspect, who is vying for the MCA seat on a Narc-Kenya ticket, was flushed out of his hideout by detectives on Thursday afternoon, May 26.
Once charged, his candidature may screech to a halt for failing to meet the requirements of Chapter Six of the Constitution on integrity.
Notably, the politician is a member of Azimio La Umoja presidential running mate, Martha Karua's party, and she has categorically stated that she does not entertain lawlessness. All eyes will be on her to see whether her party will institute any disciplinary action against the aspirant once charged.
The Nakuru regional DCI boss noted that officers were working with mobile service providers to track down members of the gang that has been targeting mobile money shops.
The arrest of the politician comes amid a crackdown on mobile money fraudsters in the country. Authorities have raised alarm over the rising number of cases targeting individuals or mobile money shops.
On Monday, May 23, the Milimani Magistrate Court heard that Kasarani Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD), Peter Mwanzo, was defrauded Ksh597,100 through a sim card swapping syndicate.
Mwanzo was testifying against sim-swap fraud suspect, Gideon Mark, who is accused of stealing the money from the OCPD on January 4, this year. The court heard that Mwanzo received a phone call from a private number but he did not pick up although the caller kept calling.
He put the phone in flight mode to avoid further disturbance and when he deactivated the flight mode at 6.50pm, his mobile phone failed to pick up the signal. Mwanzo rechecked his phone at 9pm but it had not yet picked up the network.
The Kasarani OCPD visited a sim card outlet in the neighbourhood the following day to get assistance and the attendant, informed him that his sim card had failed and advised him to do a replacement.
“She could not tell how I lost the sim card but I did the replacement and it was reactivated. Upon turning on my phone, I was surprised by the messages that started coming in.
"I tried to purchase airtime and send money but the transaction failed and got a message that I had exceeded my limits,” the senior police officer told the court.
“I was shocked that I had even registered a loan and a mobile money account. I had never applied for any loan or registered with the subscriber,” Mwanzo recalled.
