A Safaricom employee was among several people arrested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in a fraud probe targeting Kenyan SACCOs, according to DCI boss George Kinoti.
Kinoti said the arrests formed part of an electronic fraud investigation. In a tweet from the DCI official account, the agency said: “Six other people were arrested in connection with the Electronic Fraud targeting Kenyan SACCOs among them are @SafaricomPLC staff, interns and Agents. They are: – Jason Amayo Arnold Orupia Okello Silas Shihundu, John Wangila Sylvanus Nyapera and Rodgers Wanyonyi,”
The arrests renewed criticism of Safaricom’s internal controls and employee vetting. The source article argued that insider-linked fraud had become a recurring problem at the company and compared it with other institutions that have suffered losses through weak due diligence.
It also revisited the 2016 Cheza games scandal, saying the episode led to refunds worth billions and that the fraud network was protected by senior Safaricom officials. The article further claimed that a KPMG report exposed corruption within management and led to the recall of then CFO John Tombleson.
According to the article, the people behind the Cheza games saga were never charged. It also alleged that Bob Collymore shielded them, drawing a parallel with the National Youth Service scandal during the tenure of Anne Waiguru.
The article said Collymore was difficult to expose for long because he was seriously ill.
In 2017, the source article said the fraud in Safaricom had become routine and that complaints to the Communication Authority of Kenya and other accountability institutions had brought no help.
