Police are investigating emerging fraud where banks have lost millions of shillings to a syndicate involving fraudsters suspected to be colluding with government officials to transfer ownership of hired cars to the con artists before using the vehicles as collateral to obtain loans.
The criminals hire high-end cars from dealers and then alter the motor vehicles’ registration details at the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) systems before using them to secure credit facilities from unsuspecting lenders, after which they return the cars to the dealers.
It is only much later that the lenders find out the vehicles belong to different people who do not know anything about the loans or whether their vehicles were used to secure loans.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) believes there are rogue officials at NTSA’s Directorate of Registration and Licensing working with the criminals to execute the fraudulent activities that have cost lenders millions in losses.
However, the DCI is yet to identify the officials at the NTSA headquarters who are suspected to be aiding the criminals in the crime.
For the last eight months, police constable Abdirizak Ali of the DCI–NTSA offices, who is investigating most of the cases, has arrested several people involved in the fraud and they have been charged.
All the suspects who have been charged at the Makadara Law Courts in Nairobi face almost similar charges, including conspiracy to obtain registration for motor vehicles through pretense.
Other charges include unauthorised access contrary to section 14 (1) of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act of 2018 where the suspects are accused of infringing NTSA security measures to tamper with the vehicles’ registration.
The DCI suspects NTSA officials are behind this infiltration of the registration platform by outsiders who are gaining access to the Transport Integrated Management System (TIMS) portal to change motor vehicles’ registration details.
The suspects have been charged with procuring transfer of the motor vehicles registration certificates (logbook) falsely, pretending that the same had been issued by the Directorate of Registration and Licensing at the NTSA headquarters, knowing the same to be false.
All the suspects have also been charged with obtaining registration by false pretenses contrary to section 320 of the Penal Code, and are accused of committing the offences at the NTSA headquarters.
They have also been charged with obtaining credit by false pretenses after using the forged logbooks and the hired cars to seek credit from financial institutions.
In one of the cases, Alex Munyiri Karuri, Catherine Njoki Ndung’u alias Carolyne Wambui Maina and Daniel Mwangi Mucheru had been denied bail and bonds by Principal Magistrate Eric Mutunga of Makadara Law Courts after DCI made an application for the same but were later freed. Mr Karuri was separately charged with conspiracy to commit a misdemeanour contrary to section 394 of the Penal Code.
In the charge, he is accused of conspiring with others at large to obtain registration for a motor vehicle – KCU 188B a Toyota Hilux by false pretenses on diverse dates between February 8 and 22, 2023.
In the second charge, Mr Karuri is accused of obtaining registration by false pretenses contrary to section 320 of the penal code.
The suspect was also charged with obtaining credit by false pretenses after he allegedly used the fake logbook to obtain a Sh1 million credit from a company where he presented the forged logbook as security on diverse dates between February 22 and 24 this year.
In their cases, Ms Ndung’u and Mr Mucheru are jointly charged with colluding with others at large to obtain registration of a motor vehicle (logbook) by false pretenses after transferring the registration of motor vehicle KCV 822Y a Toyota Land Cruiser on diverse dates between January 6 and 9 this year.
The duo is also charged with obtaining credit by false pretenses after they allegedly used the forged logbook to obtain a loan of Sh2,250,264 from a financial institution by falsely presenting a forged logbook purporting the vehicle belonged to Ms Ndung’u.
In another similar case, city engineer Wycliffe Odhiambo Ouko was charged with colluding with others in a conspiracy to commit a misdemeanour contrary to section 394 as read with section 36 of the Penal Code.
Ouko is accused of colluding with others at large to obtain registration by false pretenses for motor vehicle registration number – KDD 148Z, a Toyota Prado on January 9 this year. The suspect allegedly made a logbook for the hired car and the same was fraudulently entered into the NTSA computer systems.
He is facing an additional charge of obtaining registration by false pretenses in contravention of section 320 of the Penal Code where he is accused of willfully procuring logbook serial number N5764167C on January 25 this year.
Ouko is accused of committing the offence at the NTSA headquarters jointly with others not before court after obtaining registration number KDD 148Z falsely, pretending the same had been issued by the NTSA’s Directorate of Registration and Licensing knowing the same was false.
In the last count, Ouko was charged with obtaining credit by false pretenses in violation of section 316 of the Penal Code after allegedly using the forged logbook and car which had already been affixed with different registration particulars to obtain a loan of Sh2.1 million from Kentsewe Investment Limited.
He is accused of obtaining the loan on February 3 this year after presenting the hired car, which was at the time bearing registration number KDD 148Z, which was fraudulent.
Ouko hired a motor vehicle – KDH 055R a Toyota Prado from Goodwill Car Hire before he allegedly changed its registration to KDD 148Z, which he presented to the lender together with the logbook as collateral while seeking the loan.
The financial institution’s officials made the usual search in NTSA registration database and found that the vehicle’s owner was Ouko and installed a tracking device on it before giving him the loan.
After receiving the money, the new registration plates on the car bearing number KDD 148Z were removed and replaced with the genuine numbers – KDH 055R before it was returned to the owner and Ouko defaulted payment for the loan.
Kentsewe Limited contracted auctioneers to trace and recover the car using the tracking device and the device led the auctioneers to KDH 055R. The matter was reported at the Central Police station in Nairobi before it was referred to DCI offices at NTSA headquarters.
After investigations, the DCI established that KDD 148Z was not a genuine motor vehicle and is believed to have been fraudulently introduced into NTSA registration database system using details of another car, the one that Ouko had hired.
In yet another case, a fraud suspect who allegedly conspired with others to transfer his wife’s car to his accomplice before he used it to secure a Sh1,714,202 loan facility without her knowledge was charged with similar offences.
David Ouma Nyiendo was charged with fraudulently obtaining registration for motor vehicle KCZ 801F by false pretenses on diverse dates between January 15 and February 10 last year. Nyiendo was accused of colluding with others to procure a transfer of the logbook.
Nyiendo was also charged with obtaining credit by false pretenses in contravention of section 316 (a) of the criminal procedure code where he is accused of using the forged logbook to obtain the Sh1, 714, 202 loan from Ngao Credit Limited in Nairobi.
He is accused of presenting the car and logbook at the lender’s offices in Upperhill, Nairobi, indicating it belongs to his accomplice Apollo Amollo Otieno, knowing the same to be untrue.
Nyiendo was also charged with unauthorised access in contravention of section 14 (1) of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act of 2018 where he is accused of infringing security measures to access NTSA systems knowing such access is not allowed, and changing the ownership of the vehicle in question.
Save for Ouko who was denied bail and bond terms after PC Ali successfully opposed the same through sworn affidavits explaining that the suspect had jumped the same terms after he was charged with similar offences at Thika Law Courts, the rest have been released on varied bail and bond terms and their cases are still ongoing.
