Safaricom employee charged with fraud for allegedly stealing over $186,600

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January 15, 2024
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2 min read
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Source: RegTech Africa
  • David Obwanga Adoyo, a Safaricom employee, is facing fraud charges for allegedly using national ID numbers to register mobile lines and embezzling over KSh 29.5 million ($186,604.04) from the National Police DT Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation (SACCO) Society Limited.
  • Adoyo, a trade development representative (TDR) at the Kenyan telco, was charged with six counts of fraud before Gilbert Shikwe, Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate.
  • The allegations made against Adoyo are said to have happened between August 28, 2021, and April 15, 2022.

The prosecution testified that Adoyo unlawfully used the identification documents of Godfrey Njuguna Lucas, Peris Njoki Mwangi, Kesia Wangari Maina, and Beth Wambui Murage.

According to prosecution counsel Judy Koech, who briefed the magistrate, Adoyo will be tried alongside M-PESA agents accused of the same fraud in 2023. The accusation implies that Adoyo and others conspired to steal from the National Police DT SACCO Society.

The allegations include linking mobile lines to Sacco members' accounts to withdraw KSh 12,954,937 ($81,953.36) from their savings via M-PESA agents.

Per BusinessDaily, “This case will be consolidated with another in which suspects have been charged and are out on a cash bail of KSh1 million. I urge this court to invoke the same bail terms in the case before court,” Judy Koech pleaded. 

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Adeoyo will now face charges alongside Ms. Jane Njoki Gaitho, Alexander Odhiambo Otieno, and ICT expert Brian Samba Oluoch, who are all accused of fraud and money laundering. 

 Because the M-Pesa operators allowed access to the embezzled amount of KSh7,035,200   ($ 44504.91) while knowing it was stolen from the thrift institution, they could face money laundering charges. 

Safaricom's Sustainability Report, published in October 2023, covers the company's fiscal year from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, and 33 Safaricom employees were fired for policy breaching and M-Pesa fraud. 

Similarly, Jumia Kenya, an eCommerce company, reported in July 2023 that it had lost KSh 21.2 million ($150,000) to fraud. The company revealed that funds were stolen by an employee who falsified vendor payment records. 

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