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Lawyer arrested trying to bribe DCI officers with Sh900K to free fraud suspects


A city-based lawyer was on Thursday evening nabbed by detectives attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Kasarani area after he tried to bribe officers.

Antony Kirunyu Karoki, who is a practising advocate with Karoki and Co. Advocates was arrested after he tried to bribe Sub-County Criminal Investigations Officers with Sh900,000 to secure the release of five suspects of Electronic Money fraud without charges, according to a police report.

“The amount which was in Ksh1,000 denomination have been documented by DCI Scenes of Crime personnel and kept as exhibit, with the suspect placed in custody and to be charged with several offences under the Bribery Act No. 47 of 2016 and the Penal Code,” part of the statement by the DCI read.

The five suspects, who detectives said were engaging in electronic money fraud, were nabbed on Wednesday with over 2,100 registered and unregistered subscriber lines.

Tried to negotiate for their release

The suspects were arrested within Pavab apartments in Kasarani, the DCI said in a statement on its official social media pages.

The suspects Samuel Githinji Njenga, Wilson Mugo Githinji, James Gitonga Maina, John Ngotho Kariuki and Ian Mbogo Kamau were also found in possession of other electronic gadgets.

Detectives say that as they were processing the five for arraignment, the lawyer walked into the police station and tried to negotiate for their release.

They were presented before a Kiambu court where police officers were allowed to hold them for seven more days to complete investigations.

Their arrests come at a time when innumerable Kenyans have fallen victim of cyber and economic crimes.

This has for months seen the DCI constantly warn members of the public, through its official social media accounts, to be extra careful when dealing with individuals who run online businesses.

“The internet is full of websites that are either fake, fraudulent or a scam. If you’re not careful while using the internet you can end up getting scammed out of your money, or worse, your identity,” the DCI said in a statement on Wednesday.

DCI further gave details on how members of the public can identify fake websites.