The Directorate of Criminal Investigations has turned its focus to Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) to establish how recovered excavators shipped from India were irregularly cleared to facilitate a fraudulent scheme.
Detectives from the Special Crime Prevention Unit have seized the equipment excavators worth Sh43million at a yard in Changamwe, Mombasa County.
The heavy equipment machinery were shipped into the country after fraudsters hacked into the email of the vehicles manufacturer’s company, which is based in London before placing an order for them.
Police are holding one suspect identified as Nobert Njeru believed to be one of the key masterminds of the cross-border fraud network.
“The shipment was done by JCB International who, upon delivering the goods, contacted the brother company in Kenya for payment. It’s then that they learnt that the company doesn’t deal with such goods. Investigations commenced and led to the arrest of the suspect and recovery of the excavators.” The DCI said through a public notice.
SCPU detectives raided the yard for the second time yesterday at dawn in Birikani area for more investigations.
They also suspect collusion between port officials and the hackers who placed an order.
J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited, universally known as JCB, is a British multinational corporation, with headquarters in Rocester, Staffordshire,
It is involved in manufacturing equipment for construction, agriculture, waste handling and demolition.
The multinational produces over 300 types of machines, including diggers (backhoes), excavators, tractors and diesel engines.
It has 22 factories across Asia, Europe, North America and South America; its products are sold in over 150 countries across the world.