The Directorate of Criminal Investigations has cautioned Kenyans against a suspected organised criminal ring targeting their lands using forged documents.
Police said the suspected criminal ring targets those in high-end homes and land owners entering into joint ventures with developers.
According to police, the suspected criminal enterprise sets in at a time when developers are approaching individuals with underdeveloped parcels of land, where the two parties agree on profitable terms for the development of the land.
“More often than not, the agreement will require the landowner to obtain certificates of lease, which has become the soft spot for the fraudsters,” DCI said in a statement.
Police said that in a recent incident involving a Pumwani-based resident, the victim could have lost his two parcels of land had a keen developer not sought the services of a thorough city advocate.
The victim, however, lost Sh553,550 to the cartel that posed as staff at the Nairobi County Lands Registry.
One of the suspects, who was approached by the victim with a promise to get him certificates of lease for both parcels of land, was arrested and arraigned after his gang issued the victim with forged documents and obtained the money.
According to the police, it has been noted that most of the suspects implicated in the case are renowned gold scammers.
DCI added that the suspects have been identified and a manhunt launched as a probe into the scheme continues.
Police cautioned landowners to ensure due diligence whenever dealing with any land-related matters, adding that land issues often trigger regrettable consequences.
On November 25, detectives arrested suspects who had been ferrying cocaine around Nairobi and sections of Kiambu County.
Detectives from the DCI Operations Directorate nabbed the two after hours of hunting down and seized several pellets of the hard stuff.
The suspects were arrested at a petrol station within the Ruiru sub-county near the Eastern Bypass, where the two had parked their vehicle waiting for a potential buyer.
