•Over 450 genuine motor vehicle logbooks were recovered at a cyber cafe in Nairobi.
•Last year, several complaints were lodged by motorists after they realised their cars had been transferred without their knowledge.
The National Transport and Safety Authority is on the spot over a new scam of illegal production of fake and genuine documents.
Over 450 genuine motor vehicle logbooks were recovered at a cyber cafe in Nairobi.
Police said some NTSA officials are part of the organised criminal gang that is behind the syndicate, putting the lives of many unsuspecting motorists at risk.
“Detectives acting on information busted two men in a cybercafe located in Ngara, along Desai road,” officials at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said.
A team of detectives at NTSA and those from DCI headquarters are expected to question some managers at the authority before they are possibly charged in court, a source aware of the developments said.
This is the latest incident to be unravelled and involves the agency officials. The agency has been upgrading its systems to beat the trend.
In 2019, some top managers at the authority were arrested following investigations of how a car that had been used in a terror incident at the Dusit d2 complex had a registration of another car.
Last year, several complaints were lodged by motorists after they realised their cars had been transferred without their knowledge.
This prompted some structural changes within the authority but it seems the menace is still there.
On Friday, DCI said the syndicate was in cahoots with corrupt officials from NTSA, who transfer ownership of the cars illegally.
Police said at the cyber, an application of a logbook takes a few hours before it is delivered by an NTSA official.
“The mastermind of the syndicate working in cahoots with officials at NTSA, illegally develops affidavits and commissions them, before they are sent to contacts at the authority for forced transfer of motor vehicles,” DCI said.
Details of the logbook are then processed within a few minutes without the actual owner’s knowledge.
Detectives established that the syndicate develops falsified importation documents from a renowned car dealer and Electronic Tax Register receipts.
NTSA manager, corporate affairs and communications Esther Kago declined to comment on the issue as it is being probed.
Police who staged a raid at the cyber cafe said it was reminiscent of a publishing house that had been turned into a motor vehicle registration centre.
DCI boss George Kinoti said the transfer of a motor vehicle is finalised exposing the possibility of one’s vehicle being transferred without his knowledge.
A man who had come to collect his logbook was arrested during the raid.
Motor vehicle logbooks bearing the original seals and assorted motor vehicle registration documents were recovered.
On Friday, four suspects were arrested for forgery of vehicle logbooks and fraudulently obtaining credit using the much-coveted document.
Kinoti said there is a new crime that is gaining ground in the city.
He said unscrupulous businesses men working with employees in money lending institutions have devised a new way of defrauding unsuspecting Kenyans and financial institutions.
Officials said the gang who have turned into overnight millionaires have built a shadowy network of hard-to-trace individuals, incorporating officials at NTSA.
Kinoti said the Cooperative Bank of Kenya had last year financed a motorist, to acquire a lorry after depositing Sh1.2 million.
But the ownership of the lorry was later changed without the knowledge of the owners and auctioned.
Police said the four are expected in court Monday for charges of, obtaining credit by false pretences, forgery and uttering a false document.
They will face charges of issuing bad cheques and fraudulent disposition of mortgaged goods.
NTSA was moved from Kenya Revenue Authority in changes that were aimed at streamlining operations.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris