A senior police boss is the latest victim in a series of electronic fraud cases that have rocked the country. Kasarani Police boss Mr. Peter Mwanzo on Monday narrated to the court how he lost Sh600,000 within six hours in a syndicate involving the infamous Mulot scammers.
“Within less than six hours Sh597,100 had been transferred from my Equity Bank account to my M-Pesa account and later sent to a number unknown to me and withdrawn in Mulot, Bomet County. How this happened is still a mystery to me,” said Mr Wanzo.
The police boss narrated the ordeal while testifying before Magistrate Mary Mwendwa, saying he fell prey to the fraudsters on the night of January 4. He said the scammers started calling with a strange number while he was still in the office. He ignored the calls, but the caller was persistent, prompting Wanzo to put his phone on flight mode at around 6.45 pm.
Read: Police Arrest Mulot SIM Swap Scammers After Kahawa Tungu Exposé
He then deactivated the flight mode at 6.50 pm, but his phone failed to pick up the signal.
“I rechecked at 9pm and still the mobile phone had no network,” Mr Mwanzo told the court while testifying against a suspected fraudster, Gideon Mark.
Wanzo said he got frustrated not having network on his phone, and decided to visit a Safaricom shop the following day. He was however told that his SIM card had failed and advised to replace it.
“Upon turning on my phone I was surprised by the messages that started coming in. I tried to purchase airtime and send money but the transaction failed and got a message that I had exceeded my limits,” the senior officer told the court.
Read also: Lawyer Attempting To Secure Release Of Suspected Electronic Money Fraudsters Arrested Over Bribery
His personal information had also been used to register with AirtelMoney, with several bank transactions also recorded.
“I was shocked that I had even registered a Fuliza account and Airtel Money. I had never applied for any loan or registered with Airtel,” said Mr Mwanzo.
To confirm the messages on his phone, he decided to request for M-Pesa and bank statements.
“To my surprise, on that night, I had transacted from Equity Bank account to M-Pesa Sh597,100,” he said.
According to the statements, the money was transferred in four installments. He claimed that while the scammers were in Donholm, Nairobi, the money taken from his account was simultaneously withdrawn in Bomet by a third party.
After the interrogation of Safaricom Staff with the help of the Criminal intelligence Unit, he learnt that his sim card had been swapped.
“Someone used my Sim card remotely. This is madness and it seemed easy for the third party to use my Sim card,” he testified.
He urged the court to order a refund of the funds and for the telecommunications company to accept responsibility for the fraud and for maintaining a system that criminals can easily exploit and abuse.
The legal teams from Equity Bank, Safaricom, and Airtel have been summoned to testify in the case.
The hearing will continue on June 29.
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