A 26-year-old university drop out was arrested over claims of hacking and stealing Sh11.4 million from a major betting company.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations said the dropout was apprehended in his two-bedroom apartment in Tatu City on Saturday, August 30, after being tracked down for months.
The Regional Criminal Investigations Officer, Central Region, Abraham Mugambi with Kiambu police boss Doris Kimeli claimed that the individual had executed a number of similar crimes on major brands.
Mugambi claimed that investigations and efforts to track down the suspects started in July, 2025 when the betting company reported losing Sh11.4 million to hackers.
Mugambi claimed that the suspect had managed to bypass the firm’s digital security systems to steal the money.
“This year in July, a report was made that a payment service provider had lost Sh11.4 million through fraudulent means. Investigations commenced, and DCI teams of experts established that the fraud was committed after the individual bypassed the security systems of the company,” Mugambi said.
The suspect, who is a second-year bachelor of IT dropout from the Meru University claimed that he was a cybersecurity engineer.
“I am a consultant. This is what I do.”
He added the activities he was conducting were not theft, but rather an independent consultancy.
The DCI managed to recover several computers and laptops, a money-counting machine, a safe, and other items from his apartment.
They had to break into the house after the suspect refused to open during the operation.
The detectives have assured that they will be at the forefront to take action against such individuals, to put an end to digital fraud in the country.
“We are grappling with white-collar crime, particularly computer crimes, and what I want to assure the public is that the National Police Service is up to the task and that criminals who try to do such activities will try to run, but they cannot hide from us,” Mugambi said.
Police said they recovered cars and other property that the suspect owns and they are investigating how he got them.
The arrest comes just four months after the detectives apprehended five suspects for allegedly hacking into a bank account and stealing Sh3.2 million.
The detectives claimed that individuals were caught after police followed leads from a mobile phone theft incident in Nairobi.
“Authorities have arraigned five savvy fraudsters who orchestrated a sophisticated hacking scheme, draining over Sh3.2 million from a victim’s bank accounts,” DCI stated.
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