A Nairobi court ordered that three Kenyans wanted in the United States over an elaborate financial fraud scheme be detained at Kileleshwa Police Station for 14 days to allow American authorities to file a formal extradition request through diplomatic channels.
Peter Omari, Francis Asanyo, and Elvis Obaigwa appeared before the Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court on Monday, where the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) sought custodial orders pending the completion of investigations and the processing of extradition documents.
The three face charges in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, including conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
A Federal Grand Jury returned the indictment against them on November 15, 2023 and arrest warrants were issued the same day .
According to court documents, the suspects are accused of orchestrating Business Email Compromise (BEC) and Vendor Account Compromise (VAC) fraud schemes that targeted US state and local government entities beginning sometime before April 2019.
Investigating officer Josphat Chebon, attached to the DCI’s Financial Investigations Unit, told the court that the suspects allegedly registered internet domain names deceptively similar to legitimate companies that had contracts with intended victims.
They then set up email accounts incorporating these deceptive domains and employed social engineering tactics to trick victims into changing payment details to bank accounts controlled by the conspiracy.
The syndicate allegedly recruited US-based individuals, referred to as “money mules,” to open bank accounts that would receive the fraud proceeds.
The funds, amounting to millions of US dollars, were then wired and laundered back to Kenya.
The FBI’s Richmond, Virginia division requested the DCI’s assistance in providing identifying information on the suspects, including telephone numbers, addresses, current locations, and previous criminal records .
Prosecution counsels Miss Nduati, Miss Fatma Shaban, and Miss Irene Semo told the court that an INTERPOL Red Alert Notice has been issued against the respondents, describing them as flight risks with a history of cross-border travel.
“The formal extradition request must be transmitted to the requesting country through diplomatic channels,” the prosecution submitted, arguing that the 14-day detention period was necessary to allow US authorities to avail the formal request together with warrants through diplomatic protocols.
However defence lawyers Danstan Omari, Cliff Ombeta, Stanley Kinyanjui, and Mrs Ashiole mounted a spirited challenge to the detention application, arguing that it violated their clients’ fundamental rights.
Ombeta submitted that the application was not an extradition request but merely sought to have persons held in custody while investigations continue.
“This is not what the Americans are coming to investigate here, and now they are telling you to place the persons in custody for 14 days to investigate what is not in their mandate,” Ombeta argued.
He contended that the state had not provided compelling reasons for detention as required by the Constitution, arguing that investigators had already conducted searches at the suspects’ homes and were withholding inventories from the defence.
“They do not need to be in custody for the search. It is not required for them to be in custody for the state to check their phones and laptops,” Ombeta submitted.
Lawyer Omari argued that no valid treaty exists between Kenya and the United States.
Omari traced the legal history to a 1931 treaty between the US and UK concerning reciprocal surrender of fugitives, which bound Kenya as a colony.
However, he argued that upon independence in 1963, the treaty did not automatically become binding on the republic.
“Section 3 of the Extradition Act, Cap 76, provides that extradition may only be permitted where a valid treaty or arrangement exists and has been duly applied by a legal notice,” Omari submitted.
“The Kenya republic is not a banana republic where foreign powers come without lawful authority to take our citizens,” he added.
The defence also raised concerns about their clients’ health, revealing that one respondent has an 11-year-old child with cerebral palsy whom he cares for.
They alleged that investigators had seized medical records, X-rays, and even children’s computers during searches.
“We shall be seeking orders for them to be taken to hospital regardless of the court’s decision,” Omari told the court.
The court ordered that the suspects be escorted to hospital for treatment while in custody .
In a related matter, a fourth suspect, Godfrey Mbogori, is also named in the US indictment.
According to court documents, Mbogori operated as a second-level middleman or “handler” in the conspiracy, serving as a conduit between Omari and money mules.
The indictment alleges that the conspiracy targeted numerous victims including Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, the State of Alabama, Fulton County, Georgia, the State of Minnesota, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the State of Maine, the City of New York, the City of Boston, Massachusetts and Prince William County, Virginia.
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