Kenyan police officers are on the hunt for two Chinese nationals said to be on the run after allegedly stealing Ksh.70 million of their employer.
Principal Magistrate Peter Ooko on Monday issued warrants of arrest for the two foreigners to be presented before court to answer to the fraud case.
Du Fang and Liu Feng Ying are accused of fraudulently transferring the amount from the account of Hu Shi Wen held at DTB bank while the complainant was away in China on a business trip.
The two – who, according to the investigating officer, have been on the run since October 4, 2018 – will face charges of conspiracy to defraud and stealing as a servant.
“I pray that this honorable court do issue me warrants of arrest to the suspects to enable me circulate to all police stations in Kenya and Interpol,” said the investigating officer in an affidavit.
The officer also indicated to court that he will work with immigration department to help in search of the alleged fraudsters.
A representative of the Taiwanese government John C Chen (centre) addresses the media in Nairobi, in an appeal to the Kenyan government to release five arrested Taiwanese nationals in August 2016. FILE PHOTO | NMG
In 2017, a Beijing court handed down jail sentences of up to 15 years to 85 people deported from Kenya for telecoms fraud, including 44 from self-ruled Taiwan, an island Beijing claims as its own which said vital evidence had been ignored.
Over the past years, countries including Kenya, Spain, Vietnam and Cambodia have deported hundreds of people from Taiwan to China for fraud, sparking accusations from Taipei that Beijing was effectively kidnapping its citizens.
China has defended the deportations, saying the crimes were committed against people in China and that as Taiwan is a part of China.
The Beijing court said in a statement that one of the Taiwanese, Chang Kai-min, had been jailed for 15 years for helping scam 185 people out of more than 29 million yuan ($4.4 million).
Taiwan’s China policy-making Mainland Affairs Council said Taiwan and China had initially agreed to cooperate in investigating the Kenya cases, but China had gone back on its word.