36-year-old boda boda operator from Kericho County is set to appear in court today (Monday, July 5) for faking his own kidnapping.
The man from Kabusenduk village in Bureti reportedly faked his kidnapping in an attempt to extort KSh100,000 form his wife. He was arrested after investigators working on the case nabbed him comfortably hiding at a friend’s house, waiting for the wife to send the money.
Kericho County Criminal Investigations Officer (CCIO) John Onyango, confirming the incident, said the suspect’s wife had reported the matter to the police, prompting an immediate investigation to be launched
Suspect’s motorcycle located at a dispensary
The suspect’s motorcycle was found abandoned at Kebeneti dispensary. At this point, he had already informed the wife that the kidnappers had abducted him and were at Chepsir trading centre along the Kericho-Nakuru Highway, going to an unknown location.
“After 24 hours of intense intelligence collection and with help of members of the public, the purported victim of kidnap was found hiding at the house of his friend.
“The suspect was just relaxing waiting for ransom money to be sent to him. He was arrested and placed in a police cell to be charged on Monday over the purported kidnap,” said Onyango.
According to the CCIO, the suspect’s friend was released after preliminary investigations indicated that he was not part of the scheme. “The man welcomed and hosted his friend unaware of the suspect’s sinister plot.”
Also, it is now emerging that the suspect wanted the money to offset a loan he had taken from a local SACCO.
“The suspect had used the motorcycle to secure the loan and it is in the vedge of being repossessed. That is what led the suspect to try to extort the money from his wife by crafting the kidnap story,” Onyango said
