Detectives have arrested the key suspect in the Ksh 14 Million Barclays bank ATM heist that saw bank lose millions from four of its ATMs spread across the city.
George Gachungu Njoroge, a police officer attached to the elite Rapid Deployment Unit was arrested on Friday evening by detectives.
A statement shared by the Directorate of Criminal investigations (DCI) read in part that “@APSKenya Constable George Gachungui Njoroge who is based in Isiolo area was arrested yesterday evening by @DCI_Kenya Detectives from the #ECCU. He’s one of the key suspects in the ongoing investigations into the loss of millions of shillings from @Barclays_Kenya ATMs in the City”.
“The suspect together with others conspired to steal from @Barclays_Kenya ATM point located at Kenya Cinema within the City occasioning a huge financial loss to the Bank. Further investigations are still ongoing” added the statement.
Gichungu was apprehended by detectives from the Economic Crimes Unit with reports indicating that he will be charged with conspiracy to commit a felony.
Media reports attributed to police sources indicate that police are following possible leads that would assist them in bringing those involved to justice.
Last Sunday, the country woke up to shocking reports of the daring robbery in which Sh.14 Million was stolen from four separate Barclays Bank ATMs.
Daring robbery
The thugs are believed to have visited the ATMs spread across the city at Mutindwa, Buruburu, Kenyatta National Hospital and at The Mater Hospital in South B over the Easter weekend shortly after they were loaded with cash, making away with more than 11 Million shillings.
It is emerging that the robbers did their homework well and had a field day with reports indicating that investigators found no surveillance camera at the Mutindwa machine where Sh6,290,000 was stolen.
Unlike in other cases where ATM lobbies are manned by guards from security companies, police say the ATM lobby was unmanned at the time of the robbery.
In South B, the robbers left nothing to chance in a bid to cover their trails and smeared the CCTV camera with petroleum jelly which blurred footage.
With the blurred footage, identifying the suspects in the footage retrieved from the ATM lobby will definitely be a hard nut to crack that investigators will seek to unravel in the coming days.
Police sources quoted in a local newspaper revealed that Sh6,290,000 was stolen at Mutindwa, Sh4,315,000 at KNH and another Sh1 million at the South B machine, bringing the total figure to more than 11 Million Kenya shillings.