Eight Kenyans are among 12 suspects arrested in Rwanda on Friday, November 1, while attempting to hack into a Kenyan bank in Rwanda.
The Rwandan Bureau of Investigations (RIB) in an update on Friday morning stated that the suspects were part of a bank fraud syndicate reported to operate in three East African countries; Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
"RIB arrested an organized group of 08 Kenyans, 03 Rwandans and 01 Ugandan over a cyber fraud attempt on Equity bank Rwanda This group was arrested while in the process of hacking into the bank system to steal money from clients' accounts," the investigative agency stated.
"The group came to Rwanda after successfully defrauding Equity Bank both in Kenya and Uganda. The case file was compiled and submitted to the prosecution for further management."
This came at a time when the bank robberies and attempted fraud have been making headlines in Kenya with the most famous hacking yet in 2019 being one involving a student at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in March.
Timothy Kang’arua, was accused of fraudulently transferring Ksh41 Million from a local bank to himself. According to the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA), Kang’arua registered over 300 mobile lines using ID cards of unsuspecting Kenyans and opened bank accounts using their details.
The cash was then transferred to the accounts of the beneficiaries at the Bank and eventually to Kang’arua’s account.
On September 5, thieves posing as police officers made away with approximately Ksh72 million from a local bank's branch in Nairobi West in broad daylight.
Several arrests were made in the ensuing investigations with several police officers and private security guards being implicated.
