Four Chinese nationals heve been arrested in over an alleged sophisticated fraud scheme involving SIM swapping and money laundering conspiracy.
The suspects identified as Xiaoling Gu, Guodong Fu, Wenji Gao, and Gu Xiaopeng, were detained following an investigation triggered by a woman who discovered that her two Safaricom phone lines had become unexpectedly inactive.
The woman repoted the incident to the police after she was unable to make calls or access her money through M-Pesa. Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Parklands investigated and discovered that the mobile number was allegedly receiving funds from an online game and betting platform.
According to investigators, the funds were reportedly transferred to different mobile numbers and bank accounts that were suspected to be linked to a fraud scheme.
A search of the suspects’ premises led to the recovery of 15 Safaricom SIM cards and nine Airtel SIM cards registered under different names. Detectives also recovered six SIM cards belonging to foreign nationals, six mobile phones, laptops, three ATM cards registered to different account holders and KSh1,125,800 in cash.
On the 1st of September 2026, the four suspects appeared before the Court of the Chief Magistrate Kibra. They remain in custody, with a ruling on their bond application scheduled for September 4.
Meanwhile, detectives are continuing to track the source and flow of money and also looking out for more suspects involved.