Kitengela businessman linked to fraud syndicate now missing for seven weeks

Investigations into Mr Kinyanzui’s disappearance by Kitengela Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers have been slow following a mass transfer of all officers to other stations. There has been a spate of crimes in the area that implicated several of the officers, and DCI headquarters' Serious Crime Unit has now taken over Mr Kinyanzui’s case.

Isinya Sub-County Criminal Investigation Officer (SCCIO) Wanga Masake told Nation that the preliminary investigations had revealed critical details warranting the intervention of the Serious Crime Unit from DCI headquarters to solve what he termed a jigsaw puzzle.

"Preliminary investigations indicated the missing person's phone was switched on at the scene. The CCTV recording has been handed to DCI headquarters for further analysis. A dual process is under way to obtain his phone call data records," said Mr Wasike, saying the missing man was linked to a series of cybercrimes countrywide.

Nation has since established that four days after his alleged abduction, Mr Kinyanzui was to appear at Kahawa Law Courts for a hearing of a case levelled against him and others on cybercrime involving a phone spoofing intricate web.

Read: How fake police signal led to extortion of missing Kitengela businessman’s wife

On Monday, March 30, 2026, according to his wife's account, she presented a missing person report vide OB No. 77 made at Kitengela Police Station at Kahawa Law Courts to pre-empt the issuance of a warrant of arrest against her missing husband.

"I knew my husband had an ongoing case involving cybercrime at Kahawa Law Courts. He was to attend a hearing on 30th March, four days after he went missing. I notified the court of his disappearance. I’m not privy to any court development," Ms Wanzala told Nation on May 12, 2026.

According to court records under case number E062/25, Mr Fortune Kinyanzui, alias Albanas Kyalo, had been apprehended, alongside five of his accomplices, implicated in a series of serious fraud cases through spoofing to dupe their targets, where they allegedly stole millions of cash electronically in Nyali, Mombasa County. They were arraigned at Kahawa Law Courts on June 3, 2025.

The matter was mentioned on June 6, 2025, for ruling, and the suspects were released on Sh500,000 cash bail.

In an affidavit filed in court, Cpl Serah Ngoiri told the court that the suspects are part of a wider syndicate operating in and outside the country.

Mr Muthina, identified as the mastermind, is believed to possess a spoofing application which he used to aid the infamous 'Mulot Swapper’ fraudsters, at a fee, to make calls to victims while masquerading as customer care service desk attendants in banks and telecommunication offices.

The detectives' report in court alluded that the app was in such high demand that the fraudsters had to part with over Sh500,000 to acquire it, have it configured, and be provided with an IP address to facilitate their activities.

Read: He lost his son to extremists, now he faces jail over Sh3m bond

During the police raid of an apartment in Nyali, the suspects were recorded to have been in possession of 19 assorted mobile phone gadgets, assorted SIM cards and SIM card holders (Safaricom, Airtel, Telkom and MTN Uganda), a book containing possible victims’ records, among other items.

The motive for Mr Kinyanzui's alleged abduction remains unclear, while his search has had a rollercoaster of twists involving a fake police signal that opened floodgates for an extortion web that left the wife Sh28,000 poorer and briefly hopeful.

On Thursday, April 9, 2026, in the afternoon, Ms Wanzala was summoned to the Kitengela Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and informed that her husband had been found in Turkana County, according to the police signal, which later turned out to be fake.

At the police station, according to Ms Wanzala’s account of events, a police officer who introduced himself as the Lodwar Sub-County Police Commander requested Sh8,000 to facilitate Mr Kinyanzui’s medical attention and later an extra Sh20,000 purportedly to facilitate the husband's easy movement.

The wait for her husband collapsed after sending the money when she was called later in the night by a Kitengela DCI officer with bad news — the earlier signal was fake.

Ms Wanzala told Nation her visit to the DCI headquarters' Serious Crime Unit has not yielded any result, urging the security agencies to expedite investigations. She has also launched a complaint with the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) via CMU/002078/2026.

"Every time I go to DCI headquarters, I usually come out with a promise the case will be investigated. I’m demanding for my husband to be set free by his abductors or produced in court, in case he committed a crime," said the mother of two.

Read: ‘Produce him in court’: Kitengela family plea as CCTV reveals businessman's abduction

In an earlier interview, Ms Wanzala had described her missing husband as an introverted lone ranger with very few friends.

The family runs a water purification outlet in Kitengela town.

According to CCTV recordings in detectives' possession and watched by Nation, at around 5.50 pm on March 26, 2026, Mr Kinyanzui's saloon car was captured exiting from Namanga Highway opposite Enkare Club onto a rough road, at least 20 minutes after reportedly leaving his house, according to his wife's account of events.

At 5.51 pm, a white double-cabin pick-up that seemed to have been trailing him was captured blocking him. Three men wearing masks alighted from the car in a huff and were recorded trying to force the driver's door open to no avail.

A standoff ensued for a further two minutes before Mr Kinyanzui's driver's door was yanked open. At that moment, he was recorded arguing briefly with the men before he was pulled out of the car.

Around 5.55 pm, the men were captured handcuffing Mr Kinyanzui, who was resisting but was seemingly subdued and thereafter forced into the rear seat of the double cab, sandwiched between two of his tormentors who boarded from different rear doors.

The vehicle was then recorded speeding off at high speed by 5.56 pm. The vehicle registration number was not clear from the recording.

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