Cops hunting for Grace Nyamohanga, Langata Womens Prison officer over Ksh.200M jobseekers scam

Detectives on Friday busted a racketeering syndicate that has obtained hundreds of millions of shillings from unsuspecting jobseekers, on the pretext that the they would be offered jobs.

According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the syndicate is operated by one Grace Nyamohanga, alias ‘Nasra’ – a Senior Sergeant at Lang’ata Women Prison.

It is alleged that she has so far swindled jobseekers over Ksh. 200million in 10 months.

The rogue prison warder apparently operates a mafia organisation that recruits helpless jobseekers, with the promise of job opportunities in top government parastatals and government security agencies including the Kenya Defence Forces, National Intelligence Service and the National Police Service.

The DCI said dozens of fake offer letters were seized from her house.

“The suspects have recruited jobseekers from across all levels of education and academic disciplines including graduates in Mathematics, Computer Science and Microbiology among others,” the DCI said on Twitter.

One such victim is a woman from Kiambu county who was swindled out of Ksh. 800,000 with the promise that her three children would be offered job opportunities at the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF),  Nairobi Metropolitan Services and the Kenya Ports Authority.

She was also reportedly offered appointment letters inviting her respective children to the said institutions to take up positions that had allegedly fallen vacant.

However, she became jittery on the authenticity of the appointments when the suspect called twice to postpone the reporting dates, citing COVID 19 restrictions.

This prompted her to report the matter to detectives.

In January this year, the suspects had reportedly recruited over 60 jobseekers who were offered forged letters of appointment, inviting them to join the Kenya Airports Authority.

The victims, who each parted with amounts ranging from Ksh. 300,000 to Ksh. 400,000 depending on one’s level of education, were even driven to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, ostensibly to familiarise themselves with what would be their new work environment.

They were also addressed by a suspect who allegedly posed as the Human Resource Manager.

Later, they were driven to a high-end facility overlooking the Nairobi National Park, along Mombasa road, where they were treated to a sumptuous meal.

Afterwards, they were asked to go home and report on March 18, 2021. That was last time the victims heard from the thugs.

The DCI said further investigations reveal that the suspect has been working in cahoots with fellow prison warders who lure desperate jobseekers into the trap, obtain money from them and remit the same to Nasra.

One such warder is reported to have collected a total of Ksh. 19million while another warder who is a driver collected over Ksh. 5.7million.

Several other victims are said to have reported similar incidents at the DCI headquarters, to file reports detailing how they fell for the tricksters machinations.

Meanwhile, DCI detectives said they have also broadened their scope of investigations, to establish the suspect’s link to money laundering, after fake U.S dollars amounting to Ksh. 2.4million were also recovered from her house, at the Industrial Area G.K Prison staff quarters.

The DCI said two suspects have since been arrested while the main suspect — Grace Nyamohanga alias ‘Nasra’ is still at large.

Kenyans who submitted their academic documents, birth certificates, identification cards and other documents to the fraudsters, have been asked to present themselves at the DCI headquarters, Serious Crimes Unit and file their reports.