NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 10 – Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have arrested a 30-year-old man accused of orchestrating a sophisticated fraud scheme using stolen national identity cards.
The suspect, identified as Charles Kuria Kamau, was apprehended following a days-long pursuit after a theft was reported from a locked motor vehicle on January 3.
Kuria was tracked to his residence in Hilton Estate, Ruiru Township, where detectives conducted a search and recovered 96 original Kenyan national ID cards, 10 dummy Samsung foldable phones, several SIM card plates, and other suspected stolen items.
“On interrogation, detectives established that the suspect has been using the national IDs to register multiple Jiji accounts, which he then uses to swindle unsuspecting Kenyans by pretending to sell genuine foldable Samsung phones, only to swap them with dummies,” the DCI said in a statement.
By the time victims realized they had been defrauded and reported the incidents, detectives said the suspect had covered his tracks. Investigations were often misdirected to the individuals whose IDs he had used to register the fraudulent accounts.
Kuria is currently being held at Ruaraka Police Station as the DCI Starehe unit continues its investigations.
Authorities believe there may be more victims of Kuria’s scheme and are urging those affected to report to the station to record their statements.
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