Investigations
Police Arrest American Resident Believed To Be Behind ‘Amazon Web Worker’ Ponzi Scheme
A woman suspected of obtaining millions of shillings from Kenyans in a fraudulent scheme known as Amazon Web Worker was on Friday, May 28 arrested.
Stacey Marie Parker, 50, was arrested by DCI detectives at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), after jetting into the country from the United States (US).
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) says that Parker’s arrest follows an intensive investigations by serious crimes detectives that linked her to the Ponzi scheme that has duped unsuspecting investors millions of shillings.
A suspect believed to have obtained millions of shillings from Kenyans in a fraudulent scheme known as Amazon Web Worker, was arrested yesterday after she jetted into the country, from the U.S. pic.twitter.com/XN2SXnm7l8
— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) May 29, 2021
In a well-coordinated and orchestrated scheme, investors were duped into investing their money in an online app known as Amazon Web Worker, on the premise that they would earn huge profits of up to 38% for a deposit lasting only seven days.
Social media platforms were awash with advertisements wooing Kenyans to the mouthwatering scheme, that promised to double one’s deposits in a month. In one such advertisement, investors who deposited KSh100,000 were promised KSh351,000 after 30 days!
All one needed for his/her application to be successful was to register their personal details such as full names, M-Pesa account details and mobile phone numbers in the online app.
“Unsuspecting Kenyans downloaded the app in their hundreds, registered and made their deposits. Some referred their spouses, children and close friends to the scheme, in a bid to make a fortune overnight. It is not until when the app was deleted from the internet without prior notice, that the investors discovered they had been duped.
“They were shocked to learn that the app was not in any way linked to Amazon, a multinational technology company based in the United States,” says the DCI.
App went down with millions of shillings of Kenyans
The app allegedly went down with deposits worth hundreds of millions of shillings from gullible investors, who had hoped to hit the jackpot, once their deposits earned profits.
Some of the duped investors reported the matter to DCI headquarters to seek assistance. Detectives swung into action immediately.
“Detectives managed to link Stacey to the syndicate after painstaking investigations revealed that she had pay-bill accounts in her name, that had a balance of KSh50 Million, believed to be deposits made by the unsuspecting victims,” adds the DCI.
The sleuths are currently pursuing other suspects in the fraud syndicate.
Parker is in police custody pending arraignment in court. She will be charged with money laundering, computer fraud among other charges.
Kenya Insights allows guest blogging, if you want to be published on Kenya’s most authoritative and accurate blog, have an expose, news TIPS, story angles, human interest stories, drop us an email on [email protected] or via Telegram
Inside Nyayo House: The Kitchen Cartel That Demands Sh100,000 for a Stove
JSC Rot: “Why I Paid Over Sh4 Million for a High Court Slot” — Explosive Claims by ‘Incoming Judge’
Fly 748 Is Back And Flies You To Mombasa From Just Sh6,500
KRA Introduces WhatsApp Tax Filing and How It Works
Trump Says Iran War Almost Over, Warns Of Weeks More Heavy Strikes
Sold And Abandoned: How Diageo and Asahi Are Locking Kenya’s EABL Minority Shareholders Out Of East Africa’s Biggest Corporate Heist
Treasury Hands Sh358M Brief to Eric Gumbo’s Firm While Bypassing Standard Rules — and the Lawyer Is Already Deep Inside Ruto’s State Machine
Understanding Crash Betting: How It Works and What to Know Before You Play
How Firm Linked To Mombasa Tycoon Jaffer Was Allowed To Import Fuel At Bloated Price And Set To Make Billions In Profits From Iranian War Crisis In Kenya
‘A Million Things Could Go Wrong’ – Why Seizing Iran’s Uranium Would Be So Risky For The US
Tuju Forcefully Removed From His Karen Property With Masked Officers In Unmarked Vehicles In Early Morning Raid
Nowhere To Hide: Govt Begins Tracing Hustler Fund Defaulters Using National IDs To Recover Unpaid Sh12 Billion
How Little-Known Pesa Print, Linked to State House Tycoons, Won NTSA Tender Worth Sh42 Billion in Traffic Fines
Named: Havi Says Mutava Confessed He Was Collecting The Bribe For Lady Justice Josephine Mongare, So Why Is JSC Still Silence?
Ex-Inchcape Kenya CEO Sanjiv Shah Charged With Bank Fraud
The Man With The Golden Pen: How NLC’s Joel Ombati Is Accused Of Masterminding Kenya’s Biggest Infrastructure Land Heist
THE HANDSHAKE THAT BECAME A NOOSE: How Tuju’s Alleged Intimate Access to EADB’s Yeda Apopo Produced a Sh294 Million Deal With No Written Contract, and Why That Trust Destroyed an Empire
‘They Will Eat You Alive’: Retired Teacher Warns Against Bashy African Credit as Sh500,000 Loan Spirals Into Sh1.5 Million Fight
Waweru’s Bank Pockets Sh1.16 Billion from KPC IPO While Ordinary Kenyans Fled the Sale
Men Linked to Akasha Drug Dynasty Charged With Death Threats and Assault at Nairobi Nightclub
-
Business7 days agoTHE HANDSHAKE THAT BECAME A NOOSE: How Tuju’s Alleged Intimate Access to EADB’s Yeda Apopo Produced a Sh294 Million Deal With No Written Contract, and Why That Trust Destroyed an Empire
-
News6 days agoMen Linked to Akasha Drug Dynasty Charged With Death Threats and Assault at Nairobi Nightclub
-
News6 days agoCity Lawyer Kimani Wachira Caught Up In Bribery Web Fights Claims
-
Business2 weeks agoBig Shame: EY and PwC Found Guilty of Fraud and Corruption in Kenya as World Bank Bans Lay Bare Scandal Inside the Global Audit Elite
-
Investigations2 weeks agoIs Equity Bank Becoming A Fraudsters’ Den?
-
Business2 days agoTHE BANK THAT BROKE THE TRUCKER: How NCBA’s Asset Financing Empire Is on Trial Before London’s Most Feared Arbitral Tribunal
-
Investigations1 week agoAmerican Couple Busted in Multimillion Tax Evasion as KRA Crackdown Exposes Smuggling Syndicate Involving Senior Officials
-
Business1 week agoHOLD THE PUMP: Kenya’s Petroleum Dealers Threaten National Blackout Unless EPRA Breaks Its Own Rules And Hike Fuel Prices