Timson Tiekam Babila alias Jeremy, a 36-year-old Cameroonian National has been arrested for obtaining money falsely from an Australian investor based in the country.
He was nabbed by DCI’s Economic and Commercial Crimes (ECCU) detectives on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, at a hotel in the Kilimani area following a tip-off from the investor.
The suspect believed to be a ‘wash wash’ specialist was arrested together with two other accomplices, Ernest Abeng Ahuo and Ayong Ronald Aku, all Cameroonian citizens.
File image of 'wash was' machine. |Courtesy| DCI Twitter|
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Preliminary investigations by the detectives revealed that Babila entices his clients by duping them that they will make quick cash after cleaning their fake dollars and turning the dollars into real money.
In order to make this happen, the suspect first asks his victims for genuine money for the purchase of chemicals and other materials used to clean the fake notes, usually locked steel boxes.
An Australian investor with business interests in Kenya and Dubai had advanced Ksh800,000, to the suspects, before he discovered that he had been ‘washed’.
"In a bid to recover his hard-earned money, he made a report at the ECCU offices in our Headquarters and the detectives immediately went for the suspects.
"A trap was laid at a local establishment and the suspect together with his abettors fell for it hoping to make a killing of a lifetime. However, hawk-eyed detectives who had taken vantage positions in the hotel pounced on the three and arrested them as they made their way in," DCI tweeted.
A heavy, black, steel box was recovered from the suspects.
According to the DCI, Babila and his accomplices live in Ruaka, Kiambu county, which has become synonymous with ‘Wash Wash’ suspects, who eke a living by stealing from hardworking businessmen.
The trio became are in custody awaiting processing by the detectives to answer to their crimes.
The DCI has urged any other person who might have fallen victim to the fraudster’s tricks, to report to the officer in charge of the ECCU at the DCI Headquartersalong Kiambu Road.
