Money Bior, Lawyer Stephen Ndeda Among 18 Accused Of Running An International Fraud Ring Involved With Scamming American Investor Sh500 Million

The bitter taste of electoral defeat was still fresh in Robert Riaga’s mouth when a far more ominous threat emerged from the corridors of a Nairobi courtroom.

The flamboyant politician, known by his flashy alias “Money Bior,” had just suffered a humiliating fourth-place finish in the Kasipul by-election, managing a paltry 519 votes despite his lavish campaign spending that had included handing out cash to residents and flaunting his palatial village home complete with a swimming pool.

But as Riaga nursed his political wounds, allegedly turning on his own campaign team in a violent rage and summoning them to his home where hired goons beat them up for failing to deliver votes, the Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court was authorizing a sweeping investigation that would thrust him into the center of an alleged Sh500 million international fraud scheme.

The judicial order represents a comprehensive blueprint for what investigators describe as a digital raid on a sophisticated criminal network.

The court has empowered Economic and Commercial Crimes Unit detectives to storm multiple premises linked to Riaga, city lawyer Stephen Juma Ndeda, and 16 other suspects, including offices at Flamingo Towers in Upper Hill, the Silver Stone Building in Kilimani, the Uhuru Highway Mall in Nairobi West, and the prestigious PWC Building in Westlands.

The warrant, detailed and forceful, authorizes officers to seize, carry away, and subject to forensic examination a trove of evidence including documents, servers, computer systems, mobile phones, and any electronic storage devices that could hold the secrets to an alleged conspiracy that spans continents and involves fake insurance companies, forged documents, and coordinated money laundering.

THE AMERICAN DREAM TURNED NIGHTMARE

At the heart of this sprawling investigation lies the shattered dreams of Charles Blake Stringer, an American businessman and director of Nutra-Acres LLC based in Texas. On February 14, 2023, Stringer initiated contact that would lead him into an intricate web of deception orchestrated, investigators allege, by some of Kenya’s most brazen fraudsters.

Stringer’s vision was ambitious but straightforward: he wanted to finance large-scale farming projects across Africa.

That vision was eagerly seized upon by a Kenyan entity known as Affluent Wealth Management, setting the stage for a series of Zoom meetings that would span from 2023 into 2024 and ultimately cost the American investor nearly USD 800,000.

During these virtual negotiations, Stringer was introduced to the key players who would later become suspects in one of Kenya’s most elaborate international fraud cases.

The group was allegedly led by a man using the alias “Robe Money Bior,” Robert Riaga’s street name, and included figures like Abel Onyango, Michael Okongo, and Joseph Verde.

Money Bior

They presented Stringer with a tantalizing offer: a loan of Sh500 million for his agricultural venture.

But there was a catch, one that would prove to be the linchpin of the entire fraud.

To secure this massive funding, they insisted Stringer first needed to obtain a life insurance policy, a crucial detail that would channel his money directly into their accounts while maintaining a veneer of legitimacy.

THE INSURANCE RUSE

The insurance requirement led Stringer directly to Collins Juma, a man presented as the CEO of Toureg Insurance Agency.

In what investigators now describe as a sophisticated layer of the ruse, Juma claimed to represent a reputable Swedish underwriter named Continental Insurance.

He issued a formal proposal and an invoice, instructing Stringer to make payments for the policy.

This created an appearance of legitimacy that convinced the American investor he was engaging in standard financial procedures for a major international loan. After all, requiring life insurance for large loans is not unusual in legitimate business transactions.

The fraudsters had done their homework, crafting a scheme that would pass cursory scrutiny.

Between June 2024 and January 2025, Stringer made multiple payments totaling a staggering USD 762,275, approximately Sh98.7 million, to accounts controlled by the suspects and their associated companies.

The web of payments extended far beyond the fake insurance policy.

He paid USD 56,400 to Ndeda and Company Advocates for legal fees, lending further credibility to the scheme through the involvement of a registered law firm.

He sent an additional USD 5,000 to Abel Onyango, who reportedly claimed it was for registering Nutra Acres Africa Ltd, the African subsidiary that would supposedly receive the loan.

Despite this financial engagement spanning months, with Stringer even travelling to Nairobi to meet representatives of the company face to face, the promised Sh500 million loan never materialized.

Bank documents submitted to court paint a damning picture of how the money disappeared, quickly withdrawn or moved through RTGS transfers to firms including Urufle Trading Company and Fatimark Energy Ltd, with some cash withdrawn directly by individuals named in the case.

A SPRAWLING CRIMINAL NETWORK

The investigation paints a picture of an organized network with tentacles reaching across Nairobi’s business districts. Alongside politician Robert Riaga and lawyer Stephen Juma Ndeda, the suspects named in court documents include Michael Omondi Okongo, David Onyango Ochanda, Luke Onyango, Abdifatah Adan Kalicha, Abel Onyango Noah, Abdullahi Bare, Joseph Verde, Oloo Collins Juma, Kenedy Oyoo Mboya, Susan Kilonzo Wambua, Stephen Roy Onyango, Judith Akinyi Riaga, and Collins Juma Aloo. This list suggests a group with diverse roles in executing the complex fraud, from the front-facing dealmakers to the back-office money launderers.

The scheme was further masked by a series of companies now under intense scrutiny.

These corporate entities, which investigators believe were used to receive and launder the funds, include Toureg Insurance Agency, Albeirut Wael Enterprises, Urufle Trading Company Ltd, Fatimark Energy Ltd, and Affluent Wealth Managers.

In his affidavit, DCI’s Corporal Brian Musau argued that these very premises were likely holding the crucial digital and physical evidence needed to prove the case, justifying the need for the court’s sweeping search warrant.

THE LAWYER IN THE DOCK

For city lawyer Stephen Juma Ndeda, the legal process is already advancing at a rapid clip.

He has faced the dock at the Kahawa Law Courts before Senior Principal Magistrate Richard Koech, charged with five specific offenses directly linked to the Stringer case.

The charge sheet accuses him of conspiracy to defraud, obtaining the USD 56,400 by false pretense through his law firm, engaging in organized criminal activities, money laundering, and acquisition of the proceeds of crime.

Lawyer Stephen Juma Ndeda

These charges underscore the central role his legal practice allegedly played in lending credibility to the fraud.

A registered law firm with a physical office provides a stamp of legitimacy that can disarm even sophisticated investors.

Prosecutors told the court that Ndeda, described as a director of Toureg Insurance Agency Limited, allegedly obtained the money from Stringer while falsely posing as someone capable of securing the facility.

He is accused of transferring and withdrawing the money to conceal its source, movement and nature, despite knowing it was criminal proceeds.

This is not Ndeda’s first brush with serious criminal allegations.

Earlier this year, he faced separate charges involving a USD 52.49 million land deal gone wrong, where he was accused of forging documents and money laundering.

His law firm has repeatedly been linked to suspicious international money transfers that have caught the attention of anti-money laundering watchdogs, painting a picture of a legal practice that may have been more focused on facilitating crime than practicing law.

Ndeda’s co-accused, David Onyango Ochanda, Luke Ouma Onyango, and Toureg Insurance Agency Limited, were charged last week and pleaded not guilty to similar counts, with each granted a bond of Sh2 million or cash bail of Sh1 million. Through his lawyer, Ndeda sought a review of the bail terms, arguing he had cooperated with investigators and voluntarily presented himself for prosecution.

MONEY BIOR’S SPECTACULAR FALL

For Robert Riaga, the fraud charges represent a spectacular fall from the heights of political ambition.

View this post on Instagram

The businessman has long been dogged by allegations of involvement in Kenya’s notorious “wash wash” fraud networks.

Investigative reports have identified him and his associates in connection with fraud operations targeting victims at popular malls in Westlands, where con artists lure unsuspecting victims with promises of instant wealth through fake currency multiplication schemes.

Money Bior gained national attention in 2021 when blogger Edgar Obare exposed what he claimed was a multimillion money laundering business in Kenya involving gold scams.

Following that exposé, Obare’s Instagram account was mysteriously deactivated, and he later revealed that his brother was allegedly kidnapped and tortured in what he believed was a warning from those exposed in the scandal.

The incident sent chills through Kenya’s investigative journalism community, illustrating the dangerous stakes involved in exposing high-level fraud networks.

Despite the swirling allegations and his controversial reputation, Money Bior launched an audacious bid for the Kasipul MP seat following the daylight cold-hearted murder of incumbent Charles Ongondo Were. His campaign was marked by lavish spending, with videos showing him handing out cash to residents and flaunting his palatial village home that rival Nairobi’s finest suburban properties. His lifestyle invited many eyes to an election that was already the talk of the town.

But voters were not impressed. His crushing defeat, finishing fourth and garnering just 519 votes, suggests that Kasipul residents saw through the flash and rejected his bid for political legitimacy. The political dream had evaporated in the heat of the electoral race, and now, as he faces potential criminal charges that could see him imprisoned for years, that dream seems more distant than ever.

**THE DIGITAL MANHUNT**

The broader digital manhunt sanctioned by the Milimani court is now underway with full force. The orders are crystal clear: the seized electronic gadgets are to be subjected to rigorous forensic examination by experts who will comb through emails, text messages, WhatsApp conversations, financial records, and any other digital footprints that could reveal the inner workings of the alleged fraud ring.

Investigators are piecing together a case that alleges a suite of serious crimes, including computer fraud, money laundering, obtaining money by false pretense, conspiracy to defraud, organized criminal activity, and acquisition of proceeds of crime. The charges span multiple laws including the Penal Code, the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act, and the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act. If convicted, the suspects could face lengthy prison sentences and massive fines that could strip them of their ill-gotten wealth.

The elaborate scheme involving fake insurance companies, forged documents, coordinated money laundering, and the exploitation of legitimate business structures has raised fresh concerns about Kenya’s reputation as a safe destination for international investment. Coming on the heels of several high-profile fraud cases targeting foreign investors, the Stringer case threatens to further damage the country’s image as a reliable business partner.

For Stringer, the dream of financing African agricultural projects has turned into a costly nightmare. Nearly Sh100 million gone, no loan to show for it, and only a mountain of legal proceedings and broken promises remain. As detectives comb through the evidence they hope to recover from the search warrants, the American investor can only wait and hope that justice will be served and some of his money recovered.

The case is scheduled for mention on December 8, 2025, when the court will consider bail review requests and issue further directions. The investigation continues as detectives work to unravel the full extent of what they believe is a sophisticated international fraud ring that has been operating with impunity for years, preying on foreign investors seeking legitimate business opportunities in Kenya.

For Money Bior, the aftermath of his political loss has been abruptly overshadowed by a fight on a much different front, one where the allegations carry the weight of half a billion shillings and the very real possibility of spending years behind bars. The man who once showered voters with cash and dreamed of legislative power now faces a future that could see him stripped of his freedom and his fortune.