Two arrested for allegedly extorting Mombasa shop owners to be arraigned Friday

Two suspected criminals who were arrested by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission officials in Mombasa on Tuesday will be charged before the Mombasa Chief Magistrates Court Friday morning.

The two were arrested for allegedly raiding and extorting shop owners, while accompanied by uniformed police officers.

EACC stated that preliminary investigations reveal that the suspects are part of a five-member gang of fraudsters working for a private entity.

The agency is said to have been falsely styling itself as a law enforcement body with powers to enforce consumer protection laws.

It is also alleged to have been duping the National Police Service to assign its officers for escort whenever conducting raids and arrests in its fake crackdown on the purported sale of expired or counterfeit goods in supermarkets, shops and other business premises across the country.

EACC pointed out that both the Kenya Bureau of Standards and the Anti-Counterfeit Agency have severally issued public notices warning Kenyans against falling victim to the operations of the fraudulent agency.

The Commission established that before raiding businesses in Mombasa, the suspects reportedly engaged in similar illegal activities in Kakamega, Kisumu, Meru and Voi.

It further found out that in duping the police to assign armed officers to escort them during shop raids across the country, the suspected criminals relied on a notice published by the fake agency in the Kenya Gazette assigning itself powers and authority to enforce consumer protection laws.

The Commission arrested the suspects on Tuesday evening upon receipt of complaints that five suspicious individuals accompanied by uniformed police officers were inspecting goods in shops within the Bamburi area.

EACC found that the suspects would thereafter arrest, detain and extort shop owners alleging that they were selling expired goods.

The suspects were detaining the arrested shop owners at Kadzandani Mwatamba Police Station from where they ordered them to pay bribes ranging from Sh20,000 to Sh50,000 to be forgiven for ‘selling expired goods’ and secure the release of their confiscated stock.

The arrested suspects were detained at Mombasa Central Police Station and arraigned before the Mombasa Anti-Corruption Court on Wednesday where custodial orders were issued.

The Commission is pursuing three more suspects who escaped when detectives pounced.

Members of the public with any information on the suspects or their accomplices have been requested to share the same with EACC through Toll-Free No. 𝟭𝟱𝟱𝟭or email address: 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗮@𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆.𝗴𝗼.𝗸𝗲.