The Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) has launched a manhunt for a woman behind a syndicate that has fleeced unsuspecting job seekers over Ksh200 million in 10 months.
DCI stated that the leader is a senior sergeant at Lang'ata Prison who uses her connection to lure unemployed youth while promising them government jobs. Two of her allies were arrested on Friday, May 21, in a multi-agent operation conducted at the prison.
"The rogue prison warder operates a mafia organization that recruits helpless job seekers, with the promise of job opportunities in top government parastatals & government security agencies including, Kenya Defence Forces, National Intelligence Service & the National Police Service.
"Among the dozens of fake offer letters in our possession that were seized from her house, the suspects have recruited job seekers from across all levels of education and academic disciplines including graduates in Mathematics, Computer Science and Microbiology among others," the detectives confirmed.
Among those who fell for the plot was a Kiambu County mother of three who paid Ksh800,000 to secure jobs for her children at the National Hospital Insurance Fund, Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) and the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).
The scammers offered the trio appointment letters of the aforementioned institution and also requested to take them on a tour of prospective employment centres.
"The victims, who each parted with colossal sums of money ranging from Ksh300,000 to Ksh400,000 depending on one’s level of education, were even driven to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, ostensibly to familiarize themselves with what would be their new work environment.
They were also addressed by a suspect who posed as the Human Resource Manager. Later, they were driven to a high-end facility overlooking the Nairobi National Park, along Mombasa road, where they were treated to a sumptuous meal. Afterwards, they were asked to go home and report on March 18. That was the last time the victims heard from the phoney thugs," the sleuths added.
Their mother reported the case to the police after suspecting that she had been duped. Detectives found out that the same job offers had been offered to over 60 candidates.
Further investigations revealed that the senior sergeant at Lang’ata worked in tandem with the prison's warders who collect money and report directly to her.
The group was also linked to money laundering after fake US dollars amounting to Ksh2.4 million were seized at the sergeant's house at the Industrial Area G.K Prison staff quarters.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations invites Kenyans who submitted their academic documents, birth certificates, identification cards and other documents to the fraudsters, to present themselves at the DCI headquarters, Serious Crimes Unit and file their reports.
In September 2020, Kenya's unemployment rate doubled from 5.2 percent to 10.4 percent according to data posted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
The government agency observed that 1,841,918 Kenyans were unemployed in the months of April, May and June 2020, up from 961,666 reported in the first quarter of the year. The highest proportion of the unemployed was recorded in the age groups 20-24 and 25-29, each registering over 20 per cent.
