Editor's Review

At Safaricom, he was in possession of a forged ID waiting card and a police abstract.

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations based in Thika have arrested a suspected notorious sim swap fraudster.

A statement by the DCI says the suspect was arrested at a Safaricom shop where he had gone for sim replacement services while using a forged ID waiting card.

He was also in possession of a police abstract form purportedly issued by the Central Police Station in Nairobi.

"Upon interrogation, Emmanuel Kiprono led detectives to a house in Zimmerman where a mobile phone used for sim registration, assorted sim replacement cards, forged police abstract forms and waiting cards bearing different names, a Mpesa till number application booklet, several ID cards among other items were recovered," DCI said.

Another suspect linked to Sim-Swap syndicate. PHOTO | COURTESY
His arrest comes a week after a woman believed to be his partner in crime Everline Alulu Kimani was arrested on September 19, 2023, and arraigned.

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"She was also arrested after presenting herself to a Safaricom shop while seeking similar services as those of Kiprono and using forged documents with the sole intention of stealing from her victims' mobile money wallets," DCI noted.

Paper writings bearing confidential customer information were recovered from her house in Komarock-Nairobi.

Kiprono and Alulu are believed to be a detachment of the infamous Mulot team who target individuals with large mobile money balances and once they take over the victims' phone numbers, they are able to drain off their accounts.

The DCI thanks the keen-eyed agile Safaricom attendants who alerted the police of the suspicious characters.

The DCI now invites members of the public to partner with us in bringing crime to its knees even as the manhunt for several accomplices who have since been named is ongoing.