Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have unveiled faces of six suspects believed to be behind the depositing of fake currency in one of the banks safe box.
Their identity was revealed hours after their dramatic arrests at the Barclays Bank Nairobi’s Queensway branch along Mama Ngina street following a tip-off.
The DCI on Tuesday, March 19, shared tweets containing mugshots of four of the suspects and their names including two others whose mugshots were not shared.
According to the DCI, two of the six suspects are officials of the Barclays Bank.
The six included Erick Adede who is the owner of the safe box, Ahmed Shah who is said to be a fake investor, Elizabeth Muthoni and Irene Wairimu Kimani. The others were Boaz Ochich and Charles Manzi who are both Barclays Bank officials.
The DCI also revealed a witness who would have been conned is being held for statement recording. According to the DCI, the $20 million (KSh 2 billion) in fake currency found in a client’s safe at the bank was deposited in 2017.
A multi-agency team was reportedly dispatched to the scene to search through the building to investigate a fake currency syndicate which has hit Kenyan businesses in the recent past. According to a statement by the financial institution, a customer who holds a personal safe deposit box at the branch was intercepted by police and taken away for further questioning.
“The customer had concealed fake currency in his personal safe deposit box against the banks rules and regulations which include restrictions of items which can be held in the safe deposit box”
Barclays added that the contents of personal safe deposit boxes are not part of the banks deposits and are only known to the client. This discovery comes after investigators found KSh 32.6 billion in fake foreign currency and gold in a Ruiru house three weeks ago.