Two individuals were arrested on Sunday, June 7 as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) went after stolen shoes worth Ksh20 million.
The shoes were stolen from various Bata stores in Nairobi, with the criminals employing an elaborate fraud that involved creation of fake gift vouchers.
The fraudulent vouchers were used to acquire shoes from multiple branches of the shoe seller, with unsuspecting workers approving the transactions.
The two individuals arrested in connection with the theft were found at a shoe store in Keroka, Nyamira County.
The DCI confirmed that the suspects were the owners of the shop where they an assortment of stolen Bata shoes worth millions of shillings was recovered.
The detectives disclosed that they would continue to pursue leads in a bid to recover more stolen items from the affected stores in Nairobi.
Some of the footwear recovered ranged from gumboots to official shoes, slippers and shoes for school-going children.
The operation was coordinated by Serious Crime detectives, with the arrested individuals expected to be arraigned in court on theft-related charges.
It was the scale of the operation, however, that raised eyebrows with many questioning how the fraudsters were able to make away with millions of shillings worth of shoes.
To serve their purpose, the fake vouchers needed to be highly similar to original vouchers often used to gift family, friends and colleagues. Those found guilty of forgery will most likely face imprisonment of up to 3 years for contravening the Penal Code.
"Any person who forges any document or electronic record is guilty of an offence which, unless otherwise stated, is a felony and he is liable unless owing to the circumstances of the forgery or the nature of the thing forged some other punishment is provided, to imprisonment for three years," Section 349 of the Penal Code reads.
