NAIROBI – A woman believed to be behind ‘Amazon Web Worker’ app that went down after obtaining millions of shillings from Kenyans in a fraudulent scheme was on Friday, May 28 arrested.
Stacey Marie Parker, 50, was arrested by Directorate of Criminal Investigations sleuths at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), as she arrived into the country from the United States of America.
The DCI said they had conducted intensive investigations led by the serious crimes unit that linked Parker to the scheme prompting her arrest.
In a well-coordinated and orchestrated scheme, Kenyans were duped into investing their money in the online app, on the premise that they would earn huge profits of up to 38% for a deposit lasting only seven days.
Suspects behind the app used various social media forums where they posted the lucrative offers promising investors double their deposit in a month.
For instance, investors who deposited KSh100,000 were promised KSh351,000 after 30 days!
“Unsuspecting Kenyans downloaded the app in their hundreds, registered and made their deposits. Some referred their spouses, children and close friends to the scheme, in a bid to make a fortune overnight. It is not until when the app was deleted from the internet without prior notice, that the investors discovered they had been duped.
“They were shocked to learn that the app was not in any way linked to Amazon, a multinational technology company based in the United States,” said the DCI.
The app allegedly went down with deposits worth hundreds of millions of shillings from gullible investors, who had hoped to hit the jackpot, once their deposits earned profits.
Some of the victims reported the matter to DCI and the detectives took immediate action.
According to the DCI, Parker was linked to the syndicate after they discovered that she had pay-bill accounts in her name.
The accounts had a balance of KSh50 Million which the DCI said could be linked to be deposits made by the unsuspecting victims.
Parker is in police custody pending arraignment in court even as detectives pursue other suspects in the fraud syndicate
She will be charged with money laundering, computer fraud among other charges.
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