This archive report was first published on 14 July 2020.
On July 14, 2020, detectives from the Overseas Criminal Investigation Office in Nairobi arrested a 29-year-old cybercrime suspect who had been defrauding unsuspecting victims by claiming to be the General Manager of the USAID Rift Valley region.
The suspect, identified as Paul Mwangi Njihia, a former computer technology student at a local university, had created an online profile purporting to be the USAID General Manager, Rift Valley Region.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Njihia had been using the fake profile to obtain facilitation fees from members of the public, who were later issued with fake gate passes.
“His victims who were later issued with FAKE Gate Passes are reported to have sent a substantial amount as facilitation fees to a bank account linked to the suspect,” said the DCI in a statement.
The suspect is set to be charged with obtaining money by false pretenses and personation.