For nearly two decades, M-Pesa agents have been at the heart of Kenya’s mobile-money ecosystem, their small shops serving as convenient cash points since Safaricom rolled out the service 19 years ago.
Hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions, of shillings pass through these outlets every day as Kenyans deposit and withdraw money to meet their daily needs.
But along the Coast and in other parts of the country, detectives are increasingly finding that the same shops where huge amounts of cash change hands have become hunting grounds for inventive fraudsters.
One emerging scheme involves fraudsters carrying envelopes stuffed with a mixture of genuine and counterfeit notes. The genuine currency is deliberately displayed to convince the agent that the cash is legitimate.
Once the transaction is underway, the fraudsters allegedly use sleight of hand to ensure the genuine money is deposited into the agent’s account while retaining the counterfeit notes.
By the time the agent discovers the switch, the fraudsters are long gone, leaving the business owner with worthless notes and a financial loss.
Veronica Wanjiru was the latest victim of the scheme, losing Sh40,000 at her M-Pesa shop along Moi Avenue in Mombasa after a woman allegedly presented her with an envelope containing genuine currency before switching it with one containing Sh36,000 in counterfeit notes.
The woman initially handed Ms Wanjiru an envelope containing Sh40,000 and asked her to deposit the money to a mobile number.
When the transaction failed, she claimed the number was not working and provided another one.
Money.
Photo credit: Pool
As Ms Wanjiru processed the deposit, the woman allegedly replaced the envelope containing the genuine Sh40, 000 with another containing Sh36,000 in counterfeit notes.
The attendant only discovered the deception after the woman had left the shop, leaving her with fake currency and a Sh40,000 loss.
Weeks of investigations led detectives to two suspects, including a woman believed to have been captured on CCTV entering Ms Wanjiru’s shop shortly before the fraud was reported.
Nancy Kananu Lairangi and Samuel Mburu Gitau were charged on Friday with conspiracy to commit a felony after allegedly using counterfeit currency to obtain money from Ms Wanjiru.
The two are accused of conspiring with others still at large to utter counterfeit currency with intent to defraud.
According to the charge sheet, on September 7, 2026, at Moi Avenue in Mvita Sub-County, Mombasa County, the suspects allegedly obtained Sh40,000 from Finsbury Property through an M-Pesa deposit to a proxy mobile phone number registered to Mary Waithira Nyamweya.
Lairangi faces an additional charge of uttering a false document. The prosecution alleges that on the same day at Finsbury Property shop along Moi Avenue, she knowingly and fraudulently presented counterfeit currency totalling Sh36,000 to Ms Wanjiru.
The two denied the charges and applied for bail, citing their family responsibilities.
Lairangi told the court that she had children, including one with a disability, who depended on her.
“They will be thrown out if I don’t pay the rent,” she said.
“I cannot run away,” he pleaded.
But behind the Sh40,000 claim, detectives are pursuing what they believe could be a much wider counterfeit currency network operating across several counties.
The State opposed the suspects’ release, arguing that investigators were yet to arrest other members of the alleged network and complete inquiries into several related cases involving M-Pesa agents.
In an affidavit filed before the court, DCI Urban Mombasa officer Edward Kiringa linked the Mombasa case to complaints from agents who had suffered significant losses after counterfeit notes were allegedly introduced into circulation.
Investigations are also being conducted in Mombasa and Garissa, with some cases at an advanced stage, according to the officer.
Reports recorded at Makupa Police Station and Central Police Station in Mombasa, as well as Garissa Police Station, have formed part of the investigations. Police are seeking production orders to bring some suspects already in custody before the courts.
“Ms Lairangi and Mburu are only part of a wider network, with about 60 per cent of the suspects still at large,” Kiringa said.
Investigators believe the network could be involved in the production, distribution and laundering of counterfeit currency, with the remaining suspects now being pursued.
The State argued that releasing Lairangi and Mburu could compromise attempts to identify and arrest their alleged accomplices, interfere with ongoing investigations or expose the public to further offences.
Police also questioned whether the two had fixed places of residence, saying they were believed to operate from Nairobi and neighbouring counties, raising fears that they could abscond if released.
Kiringa told the court that the suspects’ safety could also be at risk if they were released, following widespread attention to the case on social and mainstream media.
“The suspects’ safety cannot be guaranteed if released, as they could be subjected to mob injustice,” he said.
The State therefore asked the court to deny the two bail or bond pending the testimony of key witnesses, the arrest of other suspects and the conclusion of investigations into the related cases. The two have been remanded pending a ruling on their bond application on October 6.
Samples of the new generation currency notes unveiled by the Central Bank of Kenya on June 1, 2019. The move is an attempt to combat money laundering, the proliferation of counterfeit currency and terrorism financing.
Photo credit: File | Nation
And while detectives pursue the counterfeit currency trail, another investigation along the Coast is uncovering a different tactic in which an ordinary transaction is allegedly used to gain access to traders’ mobile-money accounts.
The scheme begins with customers claiming that their M-Kopa phones have been locked because of unpaid instalments. After making a purchase or attempting to pay, they ask to use the trader’s phone when the transaction allegedly fails.
In some cases, they persuade the trader to remove the SIM card and insert it into another phone. Once they gain access, money is allegedly transferred from the trader’s M-Pesa and other mobile-money accounts without their knowledge.
Benter Awino, a clothes seller in Majengo Kanamai, lost Sh21,291 after two men who bought clothes worth Sh1,000 persuaded her to help complete a payment.
In Mtwapa, Brian Chege Ngugi later discovered that Sh22,000 had been withdrawn from his M-Pesa account after handing his phone to two men with the same explanation.
Grocery trader Ruth Waithera reported losing Sh12,699 from her M-Shwari and M-Pesa accounts after a customer requested to use her phone.
Clothes trader Nasambu Elizabeth suffered a similar loss, reporting that Sh12,602 was transferred to a till number after four customers used her phone while completing a purchase.
Three suspects are now in custody as detectives trace the transactions, examine their phones and investigate whether the incidents are connected.
