Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Tuesday, March 12, uncovered a scheme where two employees allegedly defrauded a real estate company of Ksh15 million over 18 months.
While announcing their arraignment which is set to take place on March 13, detectives noted the scam involved a marketing officer and receptionist who worked for a Real Estate based in Kiambu's Ruaka town.
In the case reported at DCI Kiambaa offices on January 23, 2024, by the Company Director, the marketing officer was accused of duping the said real estate agents into disregarding the pay bill and bank account information provided on their lease agreement forms while remitting monthly bills and rent.
The marketing officer instead insisted on them using the company office line which she managed. She communicated to the tenants that the official pay bill line was defunct.
After receiving rent, water bills and other payable services through the office line, the 41-year-old would transfer the money to her two personal phone numbers and then transact through mobile banking to her two accounts held at a local bank.
To cover her trail, the marketing officer would then conspire with the receptionist who manipulated numbers in the company's system to indicate that no tenants had any arrears.
“For doing this, the 26-year-old partner in crime would receive from the marketing officer her unfair share of the stolen amount. This went on from June 2022 to January 2024,” detectives noted.
Upon receiving the report, detectives commenced investigations by recording statements of all the affected tenants, then sought orders from a Kiambu court to investigate the concerned banks and mobile money transactions.
The probe also established that the marketing officer, whose monthly salary was Ksh30,000, had on April 14, 2023, channelled Ksh750,000 to a vehicle sales company’s bank account, payment for a Toyota Harrier.
A search in the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) database confirmed that the marketing officer was the legitimate owner of the car until January 25, 2024, a date when Kiambaa detectives summoned her to their offices.
“To defeat justice, the officer transferred the vehicle to a close friend. The investigators sought a search warrant for the suspect's home where the Toyota Harrier was parked,” DCI officers stated.
The orders executed on March 6, also saw both suspects' phones and the desktop used by the receptionist confiscated, and the same have since been submitted to the forensic cybercrime unit for detailed analysis.
DCI officers further established that the receptionist manipulated figures in the system by inserting nonexistent money transaction codes, before issuing fake receipts to the tenants which she obtained from a cyber cafe at Ruaka.
"The two suspects recently obtained travel documents in record time, and detectives who analyzed their communication believe they were determined to flee to Canada where they have a contact," detectives noted.
Detectives who are set to arraign the suspects at the Kiambu Law Courts on March 13 preferred several charges against them including stealing by a servant, conspiracy to defraud and computer fraud.
