Police in Moi’s corner, Eldoret apprehended a man of the cloth who has allegedly conned more than 500 people countrywide in a Ponzi scheme dubbed “Income Plus.”
Bishop Bernard Nakuku Talia of Impact Healing Centre is believed to have conned over 500 Kenyans from Trans-Nzoia and Uasin Gishu counties, with the latter said to be his main operational base among other major cities in Kenya.
He is reported to have been running the Ponzi scheme in which he lured victims to invest Ksh 50,000. In return, they would earn a return of Ksh500,000. He added that it was a government project to clear all doubts off his victims.
His main targets were local businesswomen who aspired to expand their businesses. The scheme appeared to them as a means to grow capital.
“I sacrificed all I had and even borrowed some more from my family and friends in order to hit the target. I wanted to multiply my money in order to expand my business.”
“When we called him to enquire about our investment, he started getting arrogant. We were left without options,” lamented one victim.
“He has conned so many people in Kenya particularly in Nairobi, Nanyuki, Kitale and the latest Moi’s bridge of money that he is not willing to refund his victims,” recounted a victim's lawyer.
The victims appreciated the police for the apprehension of the man and requested more people who could have fallen victims to show up in Eldoret police station to record their statements in order to serve as evidence once he is arraigned in court.
Kenyans are said to have lost over Ksh1 Billion to Ponzi schemes according to Capital Markets Chief Executive Wycliffe Shamiah.
“The total number of individual investors that have lodged complaints with the Authority in the different unregulated products that have been investigated is approximately 500 with a sum total of over Sh1 billion,” Shamiah was quoted in a publication.
On July 17, 2021 sleuths from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) nabbed a man believed to have been using romance tricks to defraud single elderly women in their age of retirement.
According to the DCI, he targeted elderly women who are about to receive their pensions with a promise of love-filled retirement.
