22-year-old job seeker accused of hacking into MP’s bank accounts, stealing Sh133,000
Stephen Mule, a representative from Matungulu, expressed astonishment and fear in court as he described how cybercriminals are draining the M-Pesa and bank accounts of unsuspecting citizens.
Mule told Milimani magistrate Gilbert Shikwe on Wednesday, “No one is safe in this country, including investors and multinational corporations, as hackers with immense skills in manipulating people’s bank accounts are on the loose and withdrawing large sums of money without their knowledge.”
Cybercrime victim Mule testified in a case where 22-year-old job seeker Boniface Kipng’etich Kirui is accused of plundering Sh133,785 from Mule’s M-Pesa and multiple bank accounts.
The lawmaker in his second term told the court that his information was accessed by hackers, who then opened new bank accounts and took out loans without his knowledge. According to him, the hackers obtained his identification card number from the information he voluntarily provided when he visited the health center for COVID-19.
“These hackers are highly skilled, as they accessed my information from my corona treatment records, then accessed my M-Pesa account, and finally withdrew funds,” Mule told the court.
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He added, “The hackers also accessed my Timiza, Mshwari, Vooma app, Kenya Commercial Bank, KCB M-Pesa, Absa, and Co-operative Bank accounts in addition to my M-Pesa account.” The representative stated that the hackers drained him dry and borrowed money from other financial platforms.
Mule testified, under the direction of state prosecutor Juddy Koech, that the accused admitted to personnel of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Cyber Crime Unit how they carried out the crime.
“This defendant can only be helped if he confesses to this court, as he did to DCI officers, how they conduct their digitally criminal activities,” Mr. Mule said as he concluded his statement as chief witness.
The representative expressed regret that “our educated youth are turning to crime because they cannot find employment.” Kirui asked the MP during cross-examination if his name appeared in any of these M-Pesa and bank transactions.
In response, Mule explained that Kirui’s name did not appear in the transactions because they had electronically forged his national identity card to establish the bank accounts from which they “withdrew money as if they were him.”
Kirui denies having stolen from Mule. He was ordered to remain in prison until September 27, 2023, when the matter will be heard again.
22-year-old job seeker accused of hacking into MP’s bank accounts, stealing Sh133,000