By Collins Wanzallah
In a significant crackdown on land fraud, officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrested six individuals in Ngara, Nairobi, on Friday. The operation, led by Officer Commanding Land Fraud Investigations Unit Wilheim Kimutai, targeted suspects involved in altering land documents.
The officers, including Deputy Omondi Ogolla and Officer Nicholaus Osuri, believe the arrested individuals are part of a sophisticated cartel defrauding Kenyans of their land by forging ownership documents. The suspects, identified as Benedict Mwangangi Ngala, Joel Kakuli Mwangangi, Sylvester Mwanzia Mwanthi, Erick Omondi Ojwang, Titus Wambua Kithuku, and Vincent Boaz Owang, were caught in the act of printing fake land documents at Anpemu House in Ngara.
“Ngala receives instructions from various clients, including rogue brokers and ministry officials, to print fake documents and append signatures and stamps of ministry officials without their knowledge,” explained Kimutai.
Items Seized During the Raid
During the raid, the following items were confiscated:
- Four mobile phones
- Two typewriters
- Four printers
- Scanners
- Eleven incomplete certificates of title
- Fifteen deed plans
- Two survey plans
- A CPU
- Approximately 1000 unprinted title deed papers
- Seventeen letters of allotment
- Assorted computation files
- One logbook
- One smart driving license
- About 100 different date codes
A subsequent search at Ngala’s residence uncovered:
- Four ministry of lands stamps
- Registry index maps for Nairobi Block 118 land
- Eleven allotment letters
- Several land administration leases
- Nine deed plans
Kimutai detailed the gang’s modus operandi: Brokers source fraudulent jobs from various clients, targeting prime undeveloped parcels, properties owned by foreigners, the elderly, and the deceased. They then engage Ngala to prepare and print fake land documents. These documents are inserted into physical files by rogue ministry staff and uploaded to the Ardhi Sasa platform, facilitating fraudulent sales or transfers.
One suspect swallowed a memory card to conceal evidence during the arrest, while another fled the scene, leaving behind documents and a phone. All scenes were processed by the Scene of Crime Unit, and the suspects were subsequently taken to the DCI headquarters.
The six suspects are currently held at Gigiri, Parklands, and Muthaiga police stations. They are expected to appear in court on Monday.