Kenya:Police arrest bitcoin robbers in Nakuru
By Samuel Ouma
A notorious gang that has been hacking people’s credit cards before using them to purchase bitcoins and convert them to Kenyan currency have been arrested in Nakuru city, northwest of Nairobi.
Francis Maina Wambui Alias Nick, 26, and Zellic Alusa, 25, both students at Kenyatta University, were arrested during the raid in the company of two young ladies at an apartment in Nakuru’s posh Milimani neighbourhood.
“The gang operating from houses in the affluent Milimani neighbourhood has been on the radar of our detectives over the past few days, and it was only a matter of time before our detectives smoked them out,” said the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in a statement.
The suspects were reported to be creating fake email accounts, which they use to hack credit cards of innocent persons, especially those living in foreign countries, to buy bitcoins which are then converted to Kenyan currency.
According to the DCI, they use the money to live lavishly, entertain beautiful ladies and buy properties.
Among the documents recovered in the house was a land sale agreement entered on May 25 for a property valued at Sh 850,000 in Juja, Central Kenya.
Other items recovered during the raid were five laptops, four mobile phones, two wifi gadgets, three hard drives and assorted SIM cards.
Cyber forensic experts have since taken over investigations into the matter to comprehensively analyse the sophisticated crime.
