Officers drawn from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) unit have arrested a Nigerian National behind an online fraud syndicate that attempted to siphon Ksh35.9 million from a company.
The suspect was trying to flee the country when he was apprehended at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Wednesday evening, October 27.
According to the report issued by DCI, the suspect had gained access to the Company's records and sent a fake invoice to one of their clients based in Australia demanding payment of Ksh35.9 million.
The email sent by the suspect further instructed the client to wire the money to an account in China.
This request alarmed the client who contacted the company seeking clarification on whether they had changed their bank account details.
The company's security manager immediately alerted cybercrime detectives, who swang into action backed up by their Serious Crimes counterparts, who launched a manhunt for the suspect.
Sensing his arrest, he escaped from his home in Ruaka and booked a flight to Nigeria.
He was arrested by detectives and the immigration officials at the airport.
The suspect was taken to DCI headquarters for questioning before he was arraigned on Thursday, October 28, at the Milimani law Courts, where he was charged with the offenses of Computer forgery contrary to section 25(1) of the computer misuse and cybercrimes act and attempted theft contrary to section 268(1) as read with section 391 of the penal code.
Cases of online crimes have been on the rise in Kenya. A report on cybercrime by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) launched in 2020, revealed that the cases rose more than five times from 51 in 2019 to 270.
The 2021 Economic Survey, revealed that the number of cyber-attacks resulting in increased cyber advisories rose by 54.2 percent to 81,727.
Cases of phishing, KNBS noted, “more than tripled from 102 in 2019 to 338 in 2020 while reported online crime rose by 39.7 percent to 139.9 million with malware recording the highest growth of 45.4 percent to 124.2 million in the review period.”
