At least ten people have been arrested in connection to two syndicates involved in high-level motor vehicle registration fraud at the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
In a statement on Thursday, October 5, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) announced that intelligence from members of the public had helped authorities to discover a scheme where NTSA staffers colluded with staff members working in microfinance institutions to illegally process loans using logbooks of unsuspecting vehicle owners.
Subsequently, DCI officers raided a cyber cafe in Ngara, Nairobi and impounded 450 genuine logbooks.
The cyber cafe, as per DCI, would in collaboration with an insider from NTSA apply for logbooks and have them delivered within a few hours.
In the statement, DCI stated that the culprits used one motor vehicle registration number and its logbook to register more than one vehicle and the fraudulent logbook used to secure loans from banks and microfinances.
Consequently, the unsuspecting car owners would face auctioneers threatening to auction their vehicles for defaulting loans.
“The mastermind of the syndicate would also illegally develop affidavits and commission them, before sending them to their contacts at NTSA for forced transfer of motor vehicles,” DCI reported.
“Before the bona fide owner of the logbook realized that his/her logbook had secured a loan, auctioneers from the microfinances involved would be rudely knocking on their doors, to impound and sell the vehicles for not ‘servicing’ loans that they did not take,” the DCI statement read.
NTSA Registration System Compromised
In addition, DCI arrested people drawn from multiple agencies who were suspected to have compromised the TIMS system used in registration of vehicles to illegally introduce new vehicles in the registry.
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According to the Directorate, a man named Jimmy Kibet was arrested after investigations established that he was the main suspect. DCI explained that Kibet, who is not an NTSA staff member, had managed to get access to back-office roles at the authority and had several user accounts in the NTSA system.
Further, DCI noted that investigations were underway to establish the connection between the main suspect and a backroom account belonging to former ICT staff at NTSA who resigned in 2022.
“Detectives are also investigating how a deactivated account belonging to a former ICT officer at NTSA was reactivated and was being used for back-office transactions, several months after he had tendered his resignation in July 2022,” the statement read in part.
Syndicate Costs Government Revenue
As per DCI, 54 vehicles were fraudulently added to the NTSA system while 47 had their chassis changed in the months of April and March, a trend DCI noted had cost the government much money in revenue.
In addition, the DCI arrested three NTSA employees who are believed to be accomplices in the syndicate that also involves officials from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
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In the statement, the investigative unit assured that investigations were underway to unearth all suspects involved in the process in a bid to end the trend said to be denying the government revenue.
Further, the DCI cautioned members of the public to be wary of brokers who obtain money from them in the pretext of expediting the processing of motor vehicle logbooks, reflective plates and driving licenses.
Instead, they are advised to make use of the TIM portal.
