Illegal businesses are shining in the dark with increase of exposes of fraudulent companies extorting millions of cash from blind victims unaware of the the depth of dark minds.
Four more suspects have been arrested in connection with electronic fraud targeting Kenyan saccos.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations on Thursday said that they had arrested the four, bringing to 13 the total of number of suspects who have been arrested so far in connection to the Sh70 million heist.
The four were identified as Leonard Ng’ang’a, Stephen Mathenge, Hiram Kiragu and Alex Mutuku and are set to be charged once police finish their investigations.
Two weeks ago, nine suspects, among them Safaricom staff, interns, agents and a Ugandan, were arrested by detectives from the Serious Crimes Unit over the fraud.
The suspects are believed to have defrauded several Kenyan saccos according to the police.
Saccos which have fallen victim include Safaricom Sacco, Bamburi Sacco, Stima Sacco and others which police did not name.
George Kinoti said the thefts were mostly perpetrated by the firms’ own employees. Mr Kinoti urged financial institutions to conduct thorough background checks on their employees.
He gave a warning that the sophisticated syndicate of criminals have widened their dragnet to Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies, where internal controls and risk mitigation measures are weak or non-existent altogether from commercial banks, which have been the main target.
The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti also earlier warned banks and mobile service providers over financial fraud which has been on the rise.
In the latest arrest the police also recovered several passports from the suspects.
But officers are yet to reveal the charges to be preferred against the suspects, only confirming that the suspects were arrested for electronic fraud.
The arrest of Safaricom staff, interns and agents comes barely days after the telco revealed in its 2018 sustainability report that it dismissed 43 employees for fraud-related incidents.
Do you still trust saccos?