By Sam Alfan.
A university student suspected of hacking a bank and stealing Sh11 million will remain in custody, pending a ruling on whether the police will be allowed to hold him for 20 days.
Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Benmark Ekhubi set the ruling for September 3, following an application by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), seeking to detain Seth Mwabe Okwanyo for 20 days, pending conclusion of investigations into the matter.
The DCI through Chief Inspector Julius Cheruiyot told the court that he was investigating Okwanyo over alleged unauthorized access to Afrisend Money Transfer ltd system, which led to loss of over Sh11 million.
The investigating officer said Okwanyo was arrested on 31 August 2025 at about 12pm in his apartment within Tatu city.
He was picked over allegations of unauthorized access contrary to section 14(1) of Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, access with intent to commit an offence contrary to section 15(1) of Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act and stealing contrary section 268(1) as read with section 275 of the Penal Code
He said Afrisend Money Transfer Limited sent a letter on 25th, July 2025 to the Director of Banking Fraud Investigation Unit over alleged fraudulent transactions.
It is alleged that on 1 July 2025, a total of 38 fraudulent transactions were initiated through Diamond Trust account number 0852292XXX via the Pesalink platform and Sh11,410,165 fraudulently transferred, bypassing internal system’s transaction visibility and controls.
Okwanyo is an independent consultant in cyber security performing vulnerability assessment penetration testing (VAPT), general information technology risk.
The court heard that Okwanyo was involved in the fraudulent transactions or linked to the beneficiaries of the transactions.
According to the police, the suspect provided the fraudulent applications link (telegram bot) with specific instructions that was used to siphona the money from the complainant account.
The officer said they seized electronic evidence that includes computers, internet phone and mobile phones that should be subjected to forensic examinations.
He added that they needed to obtain user information and evidence from Telegram and Starlink companies, which operates outside Kenyan jurisdiction.
Cheruiyot added that he also needs to get user profile information from Kenya Barkers Association and industry players, obtain wet profile information from Core Banking System and Incident Response service provides.
He said he will also need to obtain relevant documents, especially M-pesa and bank statement as well as bank account opening documents.
