The modern fraud suspect: Suave, moneyed, and generous
By NYABOGA KIAGE
It appears to be the script followed by most people arrested on
suspicion of obtaining millions of shillings by false pretences: Amass
and display wealth, project yourself as close to those in power, harbour
political ambitions, and give generously to charity.
Some of the suspects, the Sunday Nation has also established, usually have past criminal cases.
EXTORTION
An
example is a man at the centre of a plot to secure the release two
Iranian terror suspects from custody and smuggle them out of the
country.
Wesley Kiptanui Kipkemoi was
last week arrested alongside Ghanaian Shemgrant Agyei for allegedly
attempting to defraud Iranian ambassador Hadi Farajvand of an unknown
amount of money to secure the release of Sayed Mansour Mousavi and
Ahamed Abolfathi Mohammed. The two are alleged to have introduced
themselves to the envoy as senior Interior ministry officials in a
position to secure the release of the suspects. The matter is in court.
It
turns out Mr Kipkemoi is no stranger to controversy. In June 2017, Mr
Kipkemoi was charged in a Mombasa court for impersonating an officer
from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
Mr Kipkemoi had been arrested at Maasai Hotel
in Nyali for threatening and intimidating public officers with arrest
before extorting money from them.
John
Ngiro, an EACC officer, said during the arrest, the suspect was found
in possession of several ATM cards whose transactions were the subject
of investigations.
It later emerged Mr Kipkemoi had tricked several people both in Kenya and abroad by posing as a top EACC official.
ENTOURAGE
Sources
within security circles revealed Mr Kipkemoi is a well-connected former
intelligence officer and has many questions hanging about his career.
Then
there is Joseph Henry Waswa, one of the seven men recently arrested on
suspicion of conning Sameer Africa chairman Naushad Merali of Sh10
million by imitating President Uhuru Kenyatta’s voice in calls made to
their victim.
Mr Waswa has been
living the life. When he headed to Kitui County in December 2018 to pay
dowry, he did it in the grandest of ways; with choppers forming part of
the entourage. There were also four MPs at the function, among them
Embakasi East lawmaker Babu Owino and the area MP Charles Nguna.
This echoed the grand ruracio (traditional
engagement party) of August 2015 by Mr Jared Otieno, another man
currently facing trial for obtaining millions of shillings through what
prosecutors say was lying to various foreigners that he could sell and
deliver gold.
Mr Otieno caused a stir
with his motorcade of top-of-range cars when he went to pay dowry at
the home of his fiancée in Meru, an event attended by the then governor
Peter Munya among other celebrated personalities.
IMPERSONATION
During
Mr Otieno’s pre-wedding at his home in Homa Bay County, a number of top
Nyanza politicians attended, much like in Mr Waswa’s event.
At the December function, Mr Waswa took photos with Mr Owino and others.
As
the story spread about the Mr Waswa’s alleged role in the scheme that
involved impersonating President Kenyatta, the Embakasi East MP last
week said he was at the function on the invitation of the area MP.
But
it was not the first time Mr Waswa was in the news. In 2014, university
student Mitch Kibiti was shot dead at Club Etonia, an establishment Mr
Waswa owned.
Mr Waswa was later
charged with murdering Mitch, in a case that saw presiding judge Abida
Ali-Aroni recuse herself in November 2016 on grounds of “interference”. A
year before the judge quit the case, 11 people were arrested at the
Bumgoma Law Courts after creating a scene. They had arrived in three
vehicles and were attempting to storm the court in support on Mr Waswa,
who was attending a hearing at that time.
That
aside, Mr Waswa has also shown his charitable side. In July 2016, he
forked out Sh300,000 to secure the bail of Saleh Wanjala — the Bungoma
man who shocked many by hanging on a helicopter as it took off.
FACEBOOK
Mr
Waswa was among the people who funded a proper flight to Nairobi for
“James Bond” and his family, where a luncheon was organised for them.
“We
have an allocation of between Sh300,000 and Sh500,000, which we are
willing to give him to run his business. He only needs to convince us
that he knows what he wants to do,” Mr Waswa told the Nation then.
Also
present at that luncheon was William Simiyu, one of Mr Waswa’s
co-accused. He introduced himself to journalists as the CEO of the
Joseph Leondrix Foundation.
Another
of their co-accused is Isaac Wanjekeche, a journalist who has in the
past years been contributing to a local publication in Bungoma.
A journalist in Bungoma told the Sunday Nation
that Mr Wanjekeche has been introducing himself as the private
secretary of Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa.
“He often calls press conferences on behalf of Mr Wamalwa and when we reach there, we always find the CS,” said the journalist.
Indeed,
on a Facebook page associated with Mr Wanjekeche, there is one photo of
him posing with Mr Wamalwa. The biggest photo on his profile, called a
cover photo in Facebook lingo , depicts him talking with President
Kenyatta.
DELIVERY
It
is not yet clear Mr Wanjekeche used his closeness with the Cabinet
Secretary to further the plan that led to their arrest, but closeness to
the powers-that-be is a common thread in the stories of those who have
been accused of fraudulently obtaining money.
One
of the most jaw-dropping examples is that of Fredrick Muhanji Mangala,
the man who police accuse of taking part in a scheme that saw many
people conned of their money through fake tenders.
To
make the scheme convincing, investigators told a court in Kiambu the
would-be victims were called to meetings at offices at Deputy President
William Ruto’s Harambee House Annexe and even at State House. They were
later conned of millions by delivering goods that were later diverted
elsewhere.
There is also the case of
four individuals who supposedly forged President Kenyatta’s signature to
allegedly con Ms Shailesh Kanani of Hot Point Appliances.
Mr
Reuben Wasike Situma, Mr Ismail Ibrahim, Mr Keith Lee Henney Bockle and
Mr Stephen Kimani were charged in a Nairobi court in January 2016.
Prosecutors
said they presented the letter to Mr Kanani claiming the President’s
private secretary Jomo Gecaga, had written it inviting him to State
House to offer his company a tender.
The four then demanded a Sh15 million bribe before the said State House appointment.
LAPTOPS
Speaking
of tenders, 31-year-old Allan Chesang is one of the individuals being
sought for masterminding a deal though the Deputy President’s office.
Mr
Chesang has been walking a free man despite a warrant of arrest being
issued against him two weeks ago for skipping court proceedings.
The warrant was addressed to the OCS Parliament Police Station where a directive to produce him in court was issued.
Mr
Chesang, a politician and businessman associated with a club on
Nairobi’s Mombasa Road, is a suspect in a scandal detectives allege was
planned and executed at the heart of the office of the Deputy President.
In
the deal, Mr Stephen Ngei Musyoka, the manager Makindu Motors, was
tricked into delivering 2,800 laptops to the office of the DP after
being issued with a fake purchase order document referenced as
ODP/SUPLS/0451-404/2018-2019.
Mr Musyoka said the deal saw him lose Sh181 million and that a loan he took from a local bank goes on accumulating.
According
to him, three months before he was handed the deal, he was a visitor at
Harambee House where he was well received and a deal struck in office
number B3-005.
OFFICIAL LOGO
“You
could not tell they were in any way tricking me as they ushered me into
a VIP lift and finally in a well maintained office with a red carpet,”
he told the Sunday Nation.
According
to documents filed in court, it is inside that office that he met Ms
Joy Wangari Kamau who introduced herself as the head of procurement at
the office of the Deputy President.
“They
even handed me documents that appeared to be original and had the
official logo of the DP’s office. This made me believe that I was
dealing with genuine people,” he said.
What convinced him even further was when he could receive an e-mail from DP’s office that was sent through the email, noreply@deputypresident.go.ke, that gave him a go ahead to deliver the laptops.
The first slot of 145 laptops was delivered and received at Treasury Building and were received by one Christian Mwendwa.
The
other three slots of 500, 597 and 823 laptops were received by Mr
Chesang from three different locations on diverse dates in July 2018.
He also collected the last batch of 735 laptops on August 2, 2018.
WEBSITE
A raid in search of the laptops was conducted by the police on August 13 at his Loresho home.
The police found more than 600 laptops in his house.
The
police also found high-end cars parked in his residence fitted with
stickers from the office of the DP and stickers reserved for MPs. In
2017 Mr Chesang ran for the Kwanza parliamentary seat but lost.
He
runs a well-designed website where he identifies himself as a “prolific
and a savvy businessman who values Strategic Investment and
diversification of business portfolio.”
Well,
describing oneself as “businessman” appears to be the biggest thread
linking the people, the State accuses of conning others.
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