A former Kenyan governor was among wealthy unsuspecting Kenyans who fell prey to a syndicate reported to be smuggling stolen luxury cars from the UK.
Investigations by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) made public on Sunday, June 11, indicated that the syndicate had found a new route to sneak the vehicles into the country from European countries without inspection.
Many of the vehicles, KEBS noted, were involved in crime in the country of origin while others had fake engine details.
The unnamed governor purchased a Range Rover Vogue from Dubai at Ksh9.9 million. The vehicle was then stolen in the United Kingdom and smuggled into the country through Dubai.
The former county boss reportedly made payments on April 3, 2023, and the vehicle arrived in Dubai in May and was issued with a certificate of shipping into the country through the port of Mombasa.
However, the vehicle was nabbed at the port of Mombasa after the authorities learnt that it had been stolen in London.
Additionally, the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service in the United Kingdom unveiled a report showing that the owner of the vehicle was still paying taxes to the UK government.
“The Chassis number displayed on this car is a 2020 car, the car you have, is actually a 2019 model and not a 2020 model.
“The identity labels are fake but the engine number is genuine. The car was reported stolen in the UK on August 21, 2022,” the UK report noted.
KEBS Instructed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in a letter dated Sunday, June 11, to conduct investigations into the syndicate warning that such cases were rising at an alarming rate endangering the safety of unsuspecting Kenyan buyers.
The Bureau of Standards noted that the car purchased by the former governor was the subject of investigations by both the Kenyan police and Interpol.
At the same time, the government of the UK asked the Kenyan authorities to ship the vehicle back to the country of origin.
The case was one among many others including a Lexus that was shipped from the United Kingdom into Kenya that was reported to have been stolen in England.
Additionally, the authorities also nabbed a Range Rover Sport that was found to have duplicate chassis numbers similar to other cars in the UK.
Authorities at the port of Mombasa stated that they were putting in place measures including tightening the inspection procedures as a way of ending the growing trend.
