Twelve suspects, among them eight Kenyans, three Rwandese and a Ugandan were Monday sentenced to eight years imprisonment for cyber-related crimes committed in Rwanda.
The group had been arrested in October 2019 in Rwanda, by the Rwandan Investigation Bureau (RIB), while trying to hack into the Equity Bank System to steal clients’ money.
The Kenyans include Dedan Muchoki Muriuki, Samuel Wachira Nyuguto, Kinyua Erickson Macharia, Godfrey Gachiri Githinji, Eric Dickson Njagi Mutegi, Reuben Kirogothi Mwangi , Damaris Njeri Kamau and Steve Maina Wambugu.
All the 12 suspects were convicted of criminal mischief or misdemeanor, computer access to information intended to commit a crime, change of computer information or network, unauthorized computer access and stealing.
They were also directed to collectively reimburse Equity Rwanda a sum total of 56,525,439 Rwandan Francs (equivalent to Sh6 million) for expenses related to the crime committed. as follows:
The money include Sh332,753 for Equity bank losses, Sh11,111 for system review by a consultant, Sh203,000 for travel and incidentary expenses of system security experts in 2019, Sh60000 for experts’ travel tickets in 2020, Sh5,555,555 for damages incurred by Equity Bank, Sh111,1111 for attorney fees.
The case had previously been delayed due to covid-19 restrictions.
Officials aware of the proceedings said the Kenyan suspects have been on the radar of police for cyber related crimes within the country involving millions of shillings.
Kirongothi skipped bail in a court case where he was accused of stealing Sh80 million by hacking into a Kenyan bank while Njagi stole Sh2.7 million in a similar fashion.
Gachiri, a former Standard Group employee, had also been accused of electronically stealing Sh21.5 million in 2016 from Sidian Bank, then K-Rep Bank, though the charges were later dropped after the money was recovered.
In other separate cases, two Kenyan suspects were released from Rwandan jails ater serving time for various crimes. Charles Kinuthia , was released on June 16, 2021 after serving two years for fraud and paying a fine of 3 million Rwandan Francs (Sh332,000) while Asman Macharia, who had been convicted for human trafficking in 2016 , was released on June 20, 2021 after a five year jail term and a fine of 10 million Rwandan Francs (Sh1.2 million).
Macharia is still under Rwandan custody until he completes paying the fine, despite a plea to pay it within a one-year period while in Kenya.
The Rwandan convictions come in the wake of increased cyber -crime activities buoyed by rapid information technology infrastructure development in the country and the region.
Pundits within the security sector have hailed the case as a win in the fight against cybercrime while rooting for more collaboration among regional states, without which it would be impossible to curb such transitional crimes.