How a Fake Kenyan Loan Scam Led to Ksh13 Million Theft from UK Govt

Jukwaa

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The 49-year-old had worked for Portsmouth City Council for 27 years when she allegedly began stealing money from council tenants’ payments to meet the demands of the fraudsters.

The scam began in 2021 when she applied for a loan from a company claiming to be based in Kenya, which was later found to be a scam, and the people behind it allegedly threatened her and demanded more money.

The pressure eventually led her to exploit her position in the council’s housing accounts department. Between April 2022 and January 2023, she stole £72,582.17, equivalent to more than Ksh13 million, by altering records of payments made by council tenants.

📌 What You Need to Know

According to a report obtained by Kenyans.co.ke , she recorded lower amounts than those actually paid and kept the difference. She later converted the stolen money into Amazon gift cards, which were apparently used to send value to the scammers.

The fraud was eventually detected by Portsmouth City Council, which launched an investigation and referred the matter to the police. She subsequently lost her job.

The case was heard at Portsmouth Crown Court, where she pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to one count of theft by an employee. She was also charged with acquiring criminal property and false accounting, but was not sentenced on those charges, which were instead kept on file.

Sentencing her, Judge Michael Bowes KC described the theft as serious because the money belonged to the public and taxpayers funded the council.

She was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, with no compensation order made.

However, the judge acknowledged the circumstances surrounding the offence, noting that she had become involved through coercion, intimidation, or exploitation by people purporting to offer her a loan.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke

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