A man who is suspected to have been part of a Sh. 1.2 billion money heist at Equity Bank is under arrest.
The man who was identified as John Karima Wainaina was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) shortly after he landed from China.
According to a report that appeared in a local daily, Karima was arrested on November 9. He had escaped to China in July when the heist was reported to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
A staggering Sh. 1.5 billion was stolen from Equity Bank, the second largest bank in Kenya by assets, 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.
Following the heist, David Machiri Kimani who was a top manager at the bank was arrested.
Preliminary investigations by the Banking Fraud Investigations Unit (BFIU) established that transactions amounting to a total of Sh. 1,545,887,140.49 were moved using the credentials of Machiri 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.
How Sh. 1.5 billion was stolen from Equity Bank in daring July money heist
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 After they were transferred to other banks’ accounts, they were once again moved to third accounts and then withdrawn to avoid detection.
Detectives believe that Machiri was recruited into the heist by Karima who has now been arrested.
