Detectives have arrested four suspects accused of impersonating senior Kenya Prisons officers and defrauding a businessman of Ksh105,000 through a fake tender scheme.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), investigators in Kitui Central revealed that the suspects approached the victim with a claim that he had secured a deal to supply vegetables to Kitui GK Prison.
The suspects allegedly posed as Kenya Prisons officers and tricked the victim into handing over cash by making them believe that it was legitimate.
The four suspects, two men and two women, were arrested inside a black Toyota Harrier, which detectives had been monitoring. Reports suggest that this was the vehicle they had been using during their operations.
During the operation, police recovered 37 fake Kenya Prisons Service tender approval forms, two fake Kenya Prisons Service job IDs, eight mobile phones and six ID cards belonging to different individuals.
The suspects are being held as investigations continue, with detectives seeking to establish whether other individuals may have fallen prey to the same scheme.
Impersonation Cases on the Rise
The arrest comes at a time when impersonation cases have been increasing in recent months, with criminals taking advantage of unsuspecting Kenyans.
In August, detectives from the DCI arrested a notorious city fraudster who had allegedly defrauded a job seeker of Ksh130,000 by promising to secure her a government job.
According to DCI officers, the scheme began in February 2024 when a woman working in Lebanon contacted the fraudster, who was posing as the personal assistant to Kenya's Head of Public Service.
The woman reached out to the alleged scammer through TikTok, seeking a government job in Kenya upon the expiry of her contract in Lebanon. What followed was a web of deception by the suspect.
The fraudster confidently provided his mobile number to the victim and presented himself as a key player in government affairs, specifically within the Public Service Commission.
Despite sending Ksh130,000 in facilitation fees to the so-called ‘City Tycoon’, the woman never secured the job, leading her to contact DCI officers for assistance in tracing the suspect.
