Suspect in Sh999,000 Parklands robbery arrested

A suspect linked to a robbery where a businessman was robbed of Sh999,000 after leaving a bank in the Parklands area of Nairobi was arrested in Eldoret Town days later.

The civilian suspect was arrested on Wednesday from his hideout in Eldoret. Police recovered a reflector jacket, a police headdress with a white cover, and a car believed to have been used during the robbery.

The vehicle had an extra number plate, which police suspect was intended to help the driver evade detection.

According to police, the arrest followed a review of CCTV footage from the bank where the victim had withdrawn the money.

The car used in the robbery was identified and confirmed to have been parked in the bank’s parking lot. It was seen trailing the victim as he drove out of the bank up to a junction on First Parklands Avenue, where it blocked his vehicle.

Two men, one wearing a reflector jacket and another in a police headdress, jumped out, grabbed the car keys, and took the cash.

The victim said he saw one of the attackers armed with a pistol, which he was hit with before surrendering. Detectives are still pursuing more suspects and searching for the firearm used in the robbery.

The arrested suspect was transported to Nairobi for processing. Police said the stolen money is yet to be recovered. The businessman had left the bank on First Avenue, Parklands, with the cash on Saturday, June 28, when he was intercepted at a junction by men dressed in police uniforms.

The incident occurred at about 2 p.m. as the victim drove home. He told police that he had kept the money in an envelope and placed it under the co-driver’s seat before starting his car, which was parked in the bank’s basement.

A salon car blocked his way, and five occupants inside the vehicle stared at him. Two of them, one dressed in police uniform, alighted while armed with a pistol. They hit him on the head, grabbed the ignition key and the envelope containing the money, then jumped back into their car and sped off toward Limuru Road.

The shaken businessman later reported the matter to the police. Officers said they were reviewing CCTV footage from the scene and the bank to determine how the events unfolded.

This is not the first time such robberies have occurred after victims leave banking halls. Police say investigations into similar past incidents point to collusion between criminals and rogue bank employees.

Last month, a man was robbed of Sh7 million after leaving a bank in Nairobi’s Central Business District. In February, a woman lost Sh3.6 million outside a petrol station along Lungalunga Road in Nairobi. She told police she had withdrawn the money to boost her business when the robbers, who seemed to have trailed her, struck.

In another case in January this year, unknown suspects broke into a businessman’s car and stole Sh1.8 million shortly after he had withdrawn the money from a bank in Kitengela Township, Kajiado County. The businessman said he had withdrawn the cash for a development project in Isinya. After the transaction, he drove to a hotel along Namanga Road for a late lunch, where the robbery took place.

Police say some gangs are tipped off by insiders within the banks, who leak transaction details to accomplices waiting outside or lingering in the banking halls.