Equity Group Fraud: Four Suspects Wired $2.4 Million to Abu Dhabi

The Kenya's Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), an investigation agency that cater for various crimes, released a letter that confirmed the Equity Group card fraud transferred that worth $2.4 million to an account in Abu Dhabi, UAE. According to the letter, the funds was transferred within hours and DCL alleged that four suspects were involved.

Three suspects allegedly altered an integration in Equity’s CyberSource system, payment gateway of the bank, enabling them to carry out multiple fraudulent card transactions. The money was then transferred to a fourth suspect, who immediately wired the funds to Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Investigators believe that the merchants may have teamed up with employees inside the bank, raising concerns about insider involvement in fraud within Kenya’s banking sector. This is a growing issue that costs the industry millions of dollars every year.

In an attempt to expand the laundering operation, one suspect transferred the stolen funds from the Mobile VOIP Networks Limited account to the Geonosis Capital Limited account at I&M Bank, owned by [name withheld]. That individual then sent the funds to another party, [name withheld], based in Abu Dhabi, according to a statement from the DCI to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

The $2.4 Million Card Fraud resulted to a lost of KES322,154,851. However, at press time, Equity Group hesitate to comment.

However, it's important to know that this case is in similar pattern of card-not-present fraud, where stolen card information is used to make illegal online purchases and chargeback fraud where funds are claimed for bad products that's never bad. The money is usually moved through multiple accounts to hide where it came from.

Although, Investigators are working with involved financial institutions to track the movement of the stolen funds. But the complexity of the transactions, which were executed in batches to bypass transaction limits, has posed as a major challenges for authorities to tackle.

What do you think about the "Equity Group Card Fraud?" Do you think the suspects can go scout free, or they'll be punished under the law if they're guilty of the charges? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.