A week since the TICAD conference came to a close, police are yet to crack a case involving theft of 200 top of the range mobile phones meant for the delegates.
The phones were stolen from the office of the deputy president by persons who posed as government officials. Police are holding six suspects but as Steve Juma reports, police are baffled as to how the conmen managed to access the DP’s office.
By NTV Kenya
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In a daring heist that shocked the nation, conmen managed to steal 200 iPhones from Deputy President William Ruto’s office at Harambee Annex in Nairobi.
These phones were intended for delegates attending the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
The masterminds behind the theft, including Winfred Mogikinya, executed a sophisticated scam.
They presented a counterfeit Local Purchase Order (LPO) from the Deputy President’s office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Capital Airtime Company, a legitimate supplier. Believing the order was genuine, the company delivered the smartphones, valued at approximately Ksh 30 million.
The fraudsters then vanished with the goods, leaving the TICAD delegates empty-handed.
To date, only 17 of the stolen phones have been recovered, and investigations are ongoing to apprehend the remaining culprits. This incident has raised serious concerns about security protocols within government offices and the vulnerability to such high-level fraud schemes.
