• Driver tells police that he was hired by four men on Saturday.
• He picked two at Kenyatta National Hospital and two at The Mater Hospital.
Image: FILE
Police have arrested a taxi driver and impounded a Toyota Probox car believed to have been used in the Sh11 million Barclays bank heist over Easter.
The driver, 28, was locked up on Wednesday evening after the first round of interrogation.
His identity has been kept a secret by investigators from the DCI economic crime unit who are probing the theft from three ATMs.
The vehicle with the number plate KCE **** is at the DCI headquarters, Kiambu Road.
DCI chief George Kinoti could not be reached for comment on Wednesday as he did not pick calls from the Star
However, sources familiar with the investigation said the taxi driver told police that he was hired by four men on Saturday.
The driver said he picked two men from Kenyatta National Hospital gate and proceeded to The Mater Hospital, where another two men joined them.
He dropped the four at the central business district at 8:15pm.
The three ATMs were hacked and emptied of cash on Saturday night. The Star on Wednesday reported that the tech-savvy youths used a method known as ATM jackpotting to drain millions out of the machines.
It is the first such case in Kenya but has been reported in other countries such as the US.
On Wednesday evening investigators were preparing to arraign the driver before a magistrate's court in Milimani to seek orders to hold him longer for questioning.
“They want him to give us other details and the identities of these passengers on that night,” an investigator said.
On Tuesday, Flying Squad officers were instructed to begin a search for the Toyota Probox captured on CCTV cameras believed to have been used by the young men.
In ATM jackpotting, thieves instal malicious software and/or hardware on ATMs, forcing the machines to spit out huge volumes of cash on demand.
To carry out a jackpotting attack, thieves first must gain physical access to the cash machine.
From there they can use malware or specialised electronics – often a combination of both – to control the operations of the ATM.
Brian Krebs, an American investigative journalist, explains in an online article how criminals have been stealing millions of shillings from banks in the US through ATM jackpotting.
The Star established on Tuesday that the police got hold of CCTV footage from areas adjacent to the ATMs and the footage are said to have similarities with descriptions of ATM jackpotters in the US.
The footage shows the men, who seem to have information about the bank’s ATM security codes, strike two machines and make off with the money.
An ATM at Kenyatta National Hospital was emptied of Sh4.3 million, while another at The Mater Hospital was drained of Sh1 million. Sh6.29 million was stolen from an ATM at Mutindwa.
The KNH theft happened at 11pm last Friday but was reported to the police on Saturday.
A G4S official identified in police documents as Wilson Mzedi reported the theft to Capitol Hill police station, Kilimani.
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya