Joseph Kimari Machiri, the father of the prime suspect in the Kes. 1.5 billion Equity Bank heist, experienced a dramatic abduction by armed individuals during a raid on his home, an incident captured by CCTV cameras.
On August 11, armed assailants disguised as police officers forcibly took Mr. Kimari from his residence. This occurred just hours after his son, David Machiri, the bank’s manager at the Group Processing Centre, was also abducted from his home in Thogoto, Kiambu County.
David, 39, is believed to have exploited his credentials to facilitate the massive theft from Equity Bank on July 10.
Following his abduction, Mr. Kimari faced two days of captivity, during which his captors threatened him against speaking to the media or revealing details about his ordeal. He was released on August 13.
After his release, Mr. Kimari expressed gratitude for his safety but declined to share the terrifying details of his captivity. He recounted being taken to an unknown forest, where he could hear lions roaring and hyenas laughing.
“I am glad to be alive and okay. I just don’t have much to say, but we appreciate the concern shown to me and my family.”
A family source disclosed that Mr. Kimari returned home in a convoy of more than five cars, typically used by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The family has raised significant concerns about the professionalism and motives behind the abduction, amid public backlash about potential involvement from law enforcement and misconduct within the criminal investigation framework.
In light of the bank heist, the family’s worries increasingly center on the legal implications of the case, particularly regarding the vulnerability of whistleblowers and suspects in high-stakes fraud situations. Their legal representative, Mr. Ndegwa Njiru, has called for accountability from authorities, emphasizing that the current circumstances reflect a disturbing trend in Kenyan law enforcement.
David Machiri, the prime suspect, had previously faced fraud charges. Reports indicated that during his leave, he executed over 47 transactions using his credentials, amounting to an astonishing Kes. 1,545,887,140.49, all illicitly funneled into various accounts across different banks.
During the initial investigation, Equity Bank’s internal control unit flagged a series of suspicious transactions from the bank’s payroll account, prompting a swift response from authorities.
Detectives intensified their inquiry after these revelations, noting the absence of corresponding credits for the large withdrawals, which raised immediate red flags. Following the internal controls team’s findings, the bank reported the issue to the Banking Fraud Investigation Unit at the DCI on July 11.
However, when detectives sought an extended detention of Machiri to facilitate deeper investigations, the court released him on bail, only for him to be abducted shortly afterward. The whereabouts of David Machiri remain unknown.
As the investigations escalated, the DCI’s Banking Fraud Investigations Unit moved its efforts to the DCI headquarters for increased oversight, underscoring the urgency of the case and the concerns surrounding it.
