Three suspects detained in Sh10.4 million Safaricom Sacco fraud case

Three men have been detained for seven days by a Nairobi court after the theft of Sh10.4 million from a Safaricom Sacco account domiciled in the Co-operative Bank.

The suspects, Eric Munene Kaburu, Dennis Jerah Ombogo and Morris Muriithi Mugambi have been remanded at Parklands police station until June 4, 2025, to allow the Director of Criminal Investigations officer Mary Okubo to conclude investigations and prefer charges against them.

The officer, appearing before the Milimani Principal Magistrate Carolyne Nyaguthii, asked the court to grant him seven days to hold the suspects in custody to conclude investigations about them.

Okubo told the magistrate that she is investigating an offence of alleged theft which was reported at Parklands police station vide OB 4610410112024.

The alleged offence was committed on October 2, 2024.

Stephen Mudibo of Safaricom Sacco Limited and who is the chief operations officer at the company, reported that there had been a suspected cyber-attack within their company systems, which led to the loss of money from their Sacco account held at the Cooperative Bank of Kenya.

The complainant alleged that they discovered the fraud through an email from Cooperative Bank on request for confirmation of some suspicious transactions that had taken place at their Sacco bank account held at Cooperative Bank,

"They confirmed that the transactions were fraudulent, and this led to them requesting the bank to freeze the transactions and decide to shut down the services for them to investigate the matter and later return the money to the accounts where they were stolen from," Okubo stated.

The complainant alleges that they did their internal checks and confirmed that the money amounting to Sh10,476,5501 was stolen from the account and transferred to other bank accounts and Mpesa account numbers.

It was established that the money was transferred from the Safaricom Sacco account to several other bank account numbers fraudulently.

The applicant, through miscellaneous application number E402 of 2025, was able to establish the recipients of the fraudulent funds domiciled in several banks and M-Pesa accounts which some of them belong to the respondents.

Kaburu was arrested in May 2025 at a mall parking lot in Nairobi, while Ombogo and Mugambi were arrested in a lodge at the Namanga border.

During the time of the arrest, several SIM cards, mobile phones, computers and assorted electronic devices believed to have been used in the commission of the offence were recovered from the respondents.

The officer prayed for the detention order, convincing the court that if they are released at this juncture might interfere with the ongoing investigations and the arrest of other accomplices.

"The mobile phones, SIM cards and laptops are yet to be subjected to forensic analysis, which requires more time considering that there are several," she stated.

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She further stated that they need to go to their homes/houses in their company to conduct a search, which can only be done when they are still in custody, as they will be able to lead them.

She added that they will rely on the forensic analysis of the electronic devices and SIM cards, which may not be accessed in the absence of an order issued by a Court.

In determination, the magistrate considered the application by the officer to grant an order for detention, noting that the respondents did not oppose the same.

"By considering the application by the prosecution, I have noted the suspects did not oppose their detention and I hereby order the suspects to be detained at Parklands Police Station until June 4, 2025, when the matter will be mentioned for further directions," the magistrate directed.