How Four Employees Stole Sh72 Million from Kenya Commercial Bank

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrested four employees for allegedly stealing Sh72.6 million from Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB).

In a statement, DCI boss George Kinoti said the four were arrested over the weekend and will be arraigned in court to face fraud-related charges.

The suspects were identified as Benson Mwai Karugu, Edmund Kirturi Mutua, Evans Kenda Kiplagat and Macdonald Mochama Mongwe.

The four are said to have transferred the cash in small amounts to accounts held in different banks in Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret and Malindi. 

“The stolen cash was later domiciled with various banks in Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret and Malindi,” the DCI said.

Investigations revealed that 37 fake companies were registered with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) to aid in the theft via fraudulent point of sale card (POS) transaction.

“Evidence gathered showed that 37 fictitious merchant companies were registered with KCB to facilitate the fraud through fraudulent point of sale card transaction claims which were approved by the four suspects. The money was sent to the companies’ account as POS card settlements,” the DCI added.

The four are suspected to have authorised payments of the claims where money was sent to the firms’ account as POS card settlements before they were later shared among the four suspects through M-pesa.

Last week, Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti said most fraud cases in banks and Sacco were inside jobs by own employees.

He urged the institutions to conduct thorough vetting and background checks of their employees to avert fraud cases that have been on the rise.