Police nab online fraudster
Police have arrested a 29-year-old man who poses as an online businessman but steals from his potential clients on social media.
Ochokol Victor Maina, alias ‘Badman Anchor’ was arrested on Tuesday afternoon by detectives attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
Detectives say Ochokol allegedly defrauded unsuspecting members of the public by posing as a dealer in high-end mobile phones on Instagram.
The man operated several Instagram pages, including Bakcell Apple Store and Netsol Apple Store, posing as a genuine trader dealing in iPhones and other Apple products.
“The suspect has been posing as a genuine trader dealing in costly mobile phone gadgets like iPhones and other Apple products. He was arrested by our officers on charges of obtaining money by pretense contrary to section 313 of the penal code,” the statement reads in part.
His arrest follows numerous complaints from members of the public who had lost hundreds of thousands of shillings.
On Tuesday, the suspect will be arraigned in court to face charges of obtaining money by pretenses contrary to Section 313 of the Penal Code.
“Members of the public are advised not to purchase products from unverified traders who have flooded the online market, taking advantage of them,” said the DCI.
Early in March, the DCI asked the public to exercise caution when purchasing second-hand items, especially electronics.
The DCI also warned against purchasing the said gadgets from an individual or a dealer with no fixed physical address and other requisite authorization documents.
Further, DCI said that some second-hand items might be robbery or any other criminal activity such as murder; thus, the buyer can be arrested for crimes he has no idea of.
“Most are those who buy stolen items from armed gangsters who have violently robbed innocent citizens and in the process killed them.
When detectives forensically investigate and find you in possession of such said devices, by the time it is established that you were not involved in the crime, you may have suffered immensely,” the DCI said in a statement.
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