A Nairobi court cautioned a university student against interfering with ongoing investigations into an alleged cyber fraud scheme targeting betting firm Betika.
Nairobi Milimani Magistrate Ben Mark Ekubi issued the warning after dismissing an application by the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) seeking to continue holding the suspect, Seth Mwabe Okwanyo, in custody.
“Do not in any way interfere with the investigations. It is evident that the suspect has control of what the investigators want to probe. I therefore direct that he appears before the investigating officer on a weekly basis,” said the magistrate.
Instead of granting the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) more time to detain the student, the court released Okwanyo on a bond of Sh500,000 pending the probe.
The investigation team alleged that Okwanyo is linked to a sophisticated cyber fraud targeting the popular betting platform.
However, the court noted that the application by the investigators fell short of the required threshold to justify continued detention.
The case will proceed as investigations continue, with the student under strict instructions not to interfere with witnesses or evidence.
He was arrested over claims of hacking and stealing Sh11.4 million from Betika.
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.
The suspect, who is a second-year bachelor of IT dropout from the Meru University claimed that he was a cybersecurity engineer.
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.
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