2 years ago I told you that this guys will be freed or sent back to Chinku land…because most probably they were Chinku state intelligence agents…lack of evidence my foot when they were caught right in the act with all their equipment…well here it is na mpaka wameombwa ware new visa waendelee kuishi
NAIROBI COUNTY
B FRED MAkANA
A Nairobi court has acquit- ted 37 Chinese nationals of cy- ber-crime charges.
They were among 76 Chi- nese who were arrested in Runda estate in 2014. Milima- ni Principal Magistrate Joyce Gandani, while acquitting them, said the prosecution had failed to prove its case. However, the fate of the 37 re- mains unknown as the prose- cution has not finished giving submissions.
“After carefully considering the evidence of prosecution witnesses, I have come to the conclusion there is no credible evidence to support charges of conspiracy to commit a se- rious crime to warrant a con- viction,” Ms Gandani said.
76 ARREsTED
The Chinese government had formally asked Kenya to hand over the 76 who at the time were facing cyber-crime charges in Nairobi. The 76 were arrested and remand- ed for being found with illegal communication systems.
When they appeared in court, they denied running a telecommunication system without a licence and conspir- acy to commit a felony.
The first group was charged with operating radio commu- nication apparatus and pro- viding telecommunications services without a licence.
The second group of 40 was
charged with running a tele- communication system, con- spiring to commit a felony and engaging in organised crime.
Ten of them were also charged with being in Kenya il- legally. They were all remand- ed at Kamiti and Lang’ata pris- ons to await trial.
Gandani said the exhibits presented in court by the pros- ecution and the cyber crime police unit indicated that the computers and mobile phones recovered from the suspects were not used to commit mon- ey laundering and fraud.
The suspects had been ar- rested on December 14, 2014 and had been in custody for almost two years. At the
time, Kenyan security agents claimed the hi-tech equipment found in Runda was capable of disrupting the country’s com- munications systems, infil- trating bank accounts and the M-Pesa money transfer net- work, which moves over Sh60 billion a month.
“On the issue of conspiracy to commit a crime, it is clear to the court that the suspects did not conspire to commit a felony as alleged,” the magis- trate said.
VIsA RENEWAL
The magistrate gave them 21 days to renew their visas or the immigration department would deport them to China.
The magistrate said a key prosecution witness, an offi- cer attached to the cyber crime police unit, told the court that after a forensic analysis of the communication gadgets there was no evidence of conspira- cy to commit organised crime.
“The testimony of prosecu- tion witnesses was contradic- tory and did not prove charges of money laundering or fraud under Kenyan law,” Gandani said.
According to the police in Nairobi, the 76 Chinese and one Thai national were arrest- ed in the upmarket Runda Es- tate for operating an illegal telecommunications system.
Sources within the police said the Chinese government had presented “findings” that the suspects electronically si- phoned over 100 million Yuan (about Sh1.5 billion) from un- suspecting Chinese citizens.
ThE EVENTs
• In 2014, some 76 Chinese are arrested in Runda es- tate
• They are remanded at Kamiti and Lang’ata pris- ons to await trial
• The rst group is charged with operating ra- dio communication appa- ratus and providing tele- communications services without a licence
• The second is charged with running a telecom- munication system, con- spiring to commit a felony and engaging in organised crime Some are acquitted