NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 7 — Detectives in Kitui Central have arrested four suspects accused of running an elaborate fake-tender scheme that defrauded a businessman of Sh105,000 through a bogus Kenya Prisons Service supply contract.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the suspects—described as “smooth-talking pretenders”—posed as senior Prisons officers and convinced the victim that he had won a contract to supply vegetables to the Kitui GK Prisons.
Investigators say the group operated with the confidence of “seasoned actors,” using official-sounding language and forged documents to gain the businessman’s trust.
“By the time the victim’s intuition whispered ‘something is off,’ his cash had already taken a walk, never to return,” the DCI said Saturday.
Detectives who had been tracking the syndicate moved in after weeks of covert surveillance.
The four suspects—identified as Clement Wachira, Andrew Kimani, Ann Waweru, and Rehema Makandi—were arrested inside a black Toyota Harrier (registration KCV 543W), which officers believe was used to facilitate the fraud.
A search of the vehicle uncovered an assortment of forged documents and items allegedly linked to the scheme, including 37 fake Kenya Prisons Service tender approval forms, two counterfeit Kenya Prisons job IDs, eight mobile phones, and six national ID cards belonging to different individuals.
The DCI described the haul as evidence of a “well-oiled con machine.”
The suspects are currently in custody and will be charged in court. Detectives have launched further investigations to determine whether additional victims were targeted in the fraudulent “vegetable tender” operation.
The DCI urged members of the public to confidentially report fraud or suspicious activities.
