SIM swap suspect who stole Sh846,000 from Shauri Moyo woman nabbed

A man suspected of swapping another person’s phone SIM cards and then allegedly stealing Sh846,450 from a Shauri Moyo businesswoman after hacking her M-Pesa accounts is facing theft charges at the Makadara Law Courts.

Juvenalis Opiyo Wabwire is accused of stealing the money from Quresha Ali Adan after allegedly hacking her two M-Pesa accounts on August 28, 2024.

Wambwire is accused of colluding with others who are still at large to steal Ms Quresha’s money.

The suspect was arrested at his hideout in Kiganjo in Thika, Kiambu County.

Ms Quresha had switched on her mobile phone intending to use money in her digital wallet only to realise that her two SIM cards could not access their networks.

She reported the same to Safaricom customer care centre where she was informed that her SIM cards had been swapped.

She reported the matter at the Shauri Moyo Police Station and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) started investigations by obtaining orders from the court to investigate various accounts.

Safaricom was directed to supply an analysis of activities that led to the swapping of Quresha's SIM cards.

The investigations established how Quresha's personal identification numbers (PINs) were changed before her money was transferred.

The DCI established that Wabwire’s national identity card was used to register a SIM card that received some of the cash transferred from one of Quresha's M-Pesa accounts.

Wambwire was traced and arrested on September 28, 2024, and DCI allegedly two Kenyan IDs belonging to the suspect.

The detectives also recovered the mobile phone which was paired with the SIM card used in receiving the cash from Quresha's M-Pesa and two SIM card holders.

DCI investigations also established that Wambwire had obtained two national IDs which he allegedly used to register SIM cards for criminal activities and had used several gadgets in such activities.

As a result, the suspect was additionally charged with procuring the registration of a national ID card by false pretences, which is against the law.

Wambwire is accused of wilfully and unlawfully procuring registration at the Registrar of Persons' offices in Thika town, Kiambu county in the name Juvenalis Opiyo Wabwire, yet he had previously obtained registration of Kenyan ID with a similar name.

He denied the charges before Principal Magistrate Carolyne Mugo and was released on a Sh500,000 bond with surety or an alternative Sh300,000 cash bail.

In addition to paying the cash bail, the suspect must provide two persons who will be contacted by the court to assist in tracing him should he fail to appear for trial.

The case will be mentioned on October 12 before the hearing starts on February 27, 2025.