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Four suspected cyber criminals arrested while trying to steal money from an ATM

By Hilary Kimuyu October 23rd, 2019 2 min read

Detectives on Tuesday night arrested four people who were trying to steal money from a Barclays Bank ATM in  Ruiru.

The suspects were ambushed by the detectives and caught in the act after several attempts to get access to the ATM failed.

THE SUSPECTS

The suspects have been identified as  Hillary Ng’eno (KK Security, Runda), Jared Nyang’au (G4S, Ruiru), Douglas Momanyi, who is a boda boda rider, and Jacob Barasa.

Police recovered a mobile phone – which they believe was used to make contact to a source – a nylon sack that was meant to be used in carrying the loot and a motorcycle.

The latest arrest comes after a suspect who is believed to be the mastermind of the theft at different ATMs in Nairobi was arraigned in Kiambu court on Tuesday.

The suspect identified as Robert Mwaura Mwatia was arrested on Sunday alongside two security guards, Stanley Nyakundi and Godfrey Masinde Simiyu.

According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Mr Mwaura recruited security guards manning various ATMs to his criminal ring.

SECRET CODES

Mwaura would send the guards secret withdrawal codes which they would then use to withdraw money from the ATMs.

“Upon withdrawing the money conned from unsuspecting members of the public, the said guards have been taking their agreed upon portion and sending the rest to Mwaura,” said the DCI.

With a special pack of keys and some insider knowledge, the criminals are able to reconfigure ATMs to dispense the amounts they want.

The DCI further established that the two guards had in September alone sent at least Sh2.2 million to Mwaura.

Cases of unsuspecting Kenyans losing their money to cyber criminals have been on the rise with the Kenya Cyber Security Report by Serianu consultancy showing that Kenya lost Sh21.1 billion to cyber crime in 2017, a 40 per cent increase from Sh15.1 billion in 2015.