A staggering Sh. 1.5 billion was stolen from Equity Bank, the second largest bank in Kenya by assets, in July 2024. According to a shocking investigative report that was published by the Daily Nation on Thursday, August 15, this money heist took place on July 10, 2024.

On that date, Equity Bank’s Internal Control Department detected a series of suspicious transactions at the bank’s salaries account. The transactions involved 47 withdrawals. These transactions involved money transfers from the salaries account to multiple other accounts in other banks.

“Whenever money is sent from one bank account to another, the systems on each side communicate details of transactions. These details include names of the individuals or entities exchanging funds, amounts involved and the integrity of the transactions. In the case of the 47 withdrawals and transfers, this correspondence was missing,” the Nation reported, citing the lack of corresponding credits in the transactions that were made on July 10.

The report noted that the correspondence credits were missing from the Equity Bank side where they were being sent from. This raised suspicions  that led the control team to review the transactions. Upon review, it was quickly established that Equity Bank had been scammed Sh. 1.5 billion.

According to the Nation report, this money was meant for the payment of salaries to the bank’s employees as well as other expense items.

The following day, on July 11, the bank’s head of security Kevin Mwangi reported the theft to the Banking Fraud Investigation Unit (BFIU) at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

Preliminary investigations by the BFIU established that transactions amounting to a total of Sh. 1,545,887,140.49 were moved using the credentials of David Machiri Kimani who was the Equity Bank manager at the Group Processing Centre, Salary Processing Unit.

Detectives also found out that Machiri’s credentials were used when he was on leave. The report by the Nation stated that detectives had established that the money heist was planned at Britam Towers with more than one unit at the bank involved.

“Machiri took sick leave in early June when there was communication between the Salary Processing Unit, the Finance Department, and the Reconciliation Unit requiring them to align to the bank’s policy and guidelines in regularizing accounts,” the Nation report stated, referencing the BFIU investigations into the matter.

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Apparently, most of the accounts that the money was debited from were new. After they were transferred to other banks’ accounts, they were once again moved to third accounts and then withdrawn to avoid detection.

“Most, if not all, of the accounts into which the money was paid into were operated by businesses that were newly registered,” the Nation reported.

Machiri and his father Peter Kimani were arrested as prime suspects in the heist. Machiri’s father, the BFIU said, is involved in tenders with the Murang’a County and the national governments and his homes are among the places to be searched.