Two arrested for running unlicensed overseas job recruitment agency
Two men are expected to be arraigned in court after they were arrested by detectives in Mombasa for allegedly running an unlicensed overseas job recruitment agency.
Bilal Dundo Nyanje and Ali Abu Bakari are directors of the fake agency, which was operating in a residential building in Mombasa, and are being held in custody and are expected to be arraigned in court once investigations are concluded.
A statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations indicates the arrest of the two came during a raid by officers from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) and Mombasa Central Police Station.
“Detectives from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU), together with officers from Mombasa Central Police Station, have arrested two suspects operating an overseas job recruitment agency without a valid Licence,” the DCI has stated.
According to the DCI, the operation was carried out in the Makadara area, where the agency was found operating from a residential building.
“Acting on actionable intelligence, the team raided a premises in the Makadara area, where Al-Wajib Investments Ltd was found running its business from a residential building. Two directors of the agency, Bilal Dundo Nyanje and Ali Abu Bakari, were promptly apprehended,” the statement added.
The DCI noted that during the raid, they recovered documents and materials linked to the operations.
“A swift search of the office yielded an expired National Employment Authority (NEA) registration certificate, two registers, a receipt book, and the agency’s official stamp, all of which were seized as exhibits.”
In their statement, they have urged job seekers to be vigilant when seeking employment opportunities abroad.
“The National Police Service urges members of the public seeking employment opportunities abroad to verify recruitment agencies through the National Employment Authority (NEA). Only agencies duly accredited by NEA are legally authorized to carry out recruitment for overseas jobs,” the authority advised.
This comes over a month after Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua announced the establishment of a multi-agency task force to crack down on recruitment agencies involved in the exploitation of desperate job seekers.
Mutua mandated the task force to investigate fraudulent recruitment agencies and prosecute the culprits.
“We deliberated on coordinated strategies to decisively deal with this criminal enterprise that is undermining the gains we have made in expanding safe and legal labour migration opportunities for Kenyan youth. As a result, we have agreed to establish a Multi-Agency Taskforce to investigate and prosecute these fraudulent actors swiftly and thoroughly,” he stated.
The team includes the ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the Office of the Attorney General, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
The Asset Recovery Agency, the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC), the Directorate of Immigration, and the State Department for Diaspora Affairs are also part of the task force.
