A medical student at Makindu Medical Training College is being detained at the Kayole Police Station in Nairobi county after staging his own kidnapping to fleece his parents’ cash. Edwin Kamau, 23, faked his kidnapping to fleece his parents. Photo: DCI Kenya. Source: UGC Edwin Kamau, 23, brought about his disappearance on the Sunday of July 3; he blocked his father but would contact his mother, informing her about the “kidnapping” incident.
Incessant calls to parents
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Kamau told his mother that the “abductors” wanted a ransom of KSh 70,000 before letting him out of their custody.
His distraught parents reported the matter to police officers, who immediately launched a manhunt for the kidnappers, the DCI said. Meanwhile, as the police were tracing Kamau’s kidnappers, he continued pestering his mother with the ransom demands, telling her that the attackers were on the verge of eliminating him. The parents gave in to the pressure and so as to secure their son’s freedom, they sent KSh 10,000 on Wednesday, July 6, via mobile money and an additional KSh 40,000 on Thursday, July 7.
“Mchele babe” in the scene
Immediately after Kamau received the first tranche of KSh 10,000, he went to a club in Thika where he met a woman with whom he was to make merry. The woman however turned out to be a “pishori” admin who laced his drink with an unknown substance and stole the cash.
After regaining his consciousness, Kamau again contacted his parents who sent a further KSh 40,000 that he withdrew and put in his shoes.
Detectives who were in the meantime carrying on with their assignment ultimately caught up with him. After being questioned, the student revealed he had to devise the fake story so that he could get the money for his last semester fees before writing his examinations; this is after he squandered the cash initially sent to him for fees. He further disclosed to the detectives that he had been ‘kidnapped’ alongside two other students whose parents had paid their ransoms. The officers recovered KSh 38,600 from Kamau, who is now a guest of the state awaiting arraignment.
Kakamega man fakes kidnapping
In a separate incident, a man in Kakamega recently puzzled his relatives when it emerged that he had faked his kidnapping to fleece his family KSh 60,000.
Identified as Evans Akaya Pesa, the father of one who works as a boda boda operator disappeared from home before informing his family that he had been kidnapped.
Nevertheless, Akaya later resurfaced at his home and apologised to his family following his attempts to swindle them the money. He said he had lacked the means to provide for his family thus resorting to faking his abduction with hopes of making a killing out of it.
