Former Kitui MCA, two others arrested for posing as EACC sleuths, to face extortion charges
The three are alleged to have been extorting money from senior government officials and parastatal bosses
A former Kitui Member of the County Assembly (MCA), James Mbuvi, is among three people expected to be arraigned in court after they were arrested yesterday posing as senior Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) investigators.
They will be charged with impersonation and extortion.
Mbuvi and his accomplices, Mike Muthami and Raphael Muthoka, were arrested by EACC detectives while on a mission to extort.
The trio was found strategically waiting at the Komarock Three Hut bar for a person they had “summoned to shed light on matters they were investigating.”
“Former Kyululu Ward, MCA, James Mbuvi Kula, Mike Muthami Kasingi, and Raphael Muthoka Kithembe were finally nabbed by EACC sleuths at Three Hut bar in Komarock as they waited to pounce on a complainant who luckily had outsmarted them,” EACC said in a statement.
The anti-corruption sleuths recovered 12 mobile phones of different makes, 22 SIM cards, and eight notebooks with the names and details of victims for whom the imposters were planning their mission.
The three are alleged to have been extorting money from senior government officials and parastatal bosses’ purporting to be detectives of the anti-graft agency investigating cases against them.
Details reveal that the commission received a call from the complainant who wanted clarification on why its investigations director wanted to meet him in a hotel and not its offices or police station.
It was then that the anti-corruption sleuths launched laid their trap before nabbing them.
“The EACC received a complaint from a person stating that a person purporting to be the commission’s Director of Investigations had summoned him through his mobile phone number for a meeting at a hotel regarding a case EACC was allegedly investigating against him. The fact that the complainant was being asked for a meeting at a hotel and not at official EACC offices or a police station raised suspicion in the complainant’s mind,” EACC explained.
The suspects were taken to the Integrity Centre Police Station to record statements pending arraignment.
The commission says it has received numerous complaints for the last three years from people reporting that some individuals have specifically impersonated the EACC’s Director of Investigations and other senior officials and extorted the public.
EACC appealed to the public to be vigilant and not fall prey to imposters, adding that its investigators have official job cards, which they produce for identification while on duty.
“EACC officers summon persons of interest via official written communication to appear at our offices at the headquarters or the nearest regional offices or to a police station. The Commission would like to urge the public to report any suspected imposters immediately,” they appealed.
