A middle-aged man was arrested by detectives and arraigned on 25th April 2022 for engaging in fraudulent dealings and conning unsuspecting Kenyans looking to invest in the gas cylinder business.
After several Kenyans launched complaints about his dubious, Justin Mwirigi Murungi, a perennial online fraudster who has been conning clients through a non-existing online gas cylinder shop, was traced and captured by detectives.
In one such instance, Robert Isiche Mzee, a resident of Langata, unknowingly found himself in the grasp of the serial fraudster. Through hard work and grit, Mzee had made some profits and was brainstorming on the best business to invest his hard-earned money. After much deliberations, he settled on setting up a gas vending business within the Kamulu area.
In November last year, he was shopping online for a place to source the cylinders when he came across a Facebook page advertising the exact business. The page named Heritage Gas Wholesalers had information detailing the business as dealing with gas cylinders, with several brands of cooking gas displayed.
The page also had a contact number, and the contact person’s name was Kelvin Mwangi. After satisfactorily double-checking the page, Mzee dialed the number and made inquiries where he was assured of the availability of the gas cylinders and that the company would like delivery from their warehouse located along Lumumba Road, Makupa in Mombasa County.
Contented with the assurance of the fraudster, the victim went ahead and placed an order of 60 gas cylinders at a total cost of 354,000 shillings. The conman then sent a quotation and requested that he pay a commitment fee of 118,000 shillings for the processing to be fast-tracked.
After brief negotiations, he agreed to waive the commitment fee to 100,000 shillings since Mzee would purchase the products in bulk. The agreement was sealed, even though Mzee had no clue who was behind the Facebook page or what he looked like.
On 3rd December 2021, Mzee transferred 100,000 shillings via M-Pesa mobile money transfer to the con’s number. He was to be paid the rest of the money upon delivery of the cylinders. A day and another passed by without Mzee receiving the products as earlier agreed, prompting him to read malice.
Upon making calls, the scammer started giving flimsy excuses as to why the cylinders had not been delivered. He eventually failed to pick up Mzee’s calls and later blocked him completely. Realizing that he had been duped, the complainant made a report at Lang’ata Police station.
Detectives from DCI Lang’ata traced Justin Mwirigi Murungi, who was immediately arrested within Thika Township. A copy of a national ID card with the name of Kelvin Brian Mwangi was also recovered from the suspect.
Article by John Kachibo