The man police have linked to Safaricom, NIC Bank fraud

Corporate News

Mr Alex Mutungi Mutuku (centre)and Mr Stanley Kimeu Mutua in a Nairobi court. PHOTO | FILE 

By OKUTTAH MARK, mokuttah@ke.natiomedia.com

In Summary

• Alex Mutungi Mutuku acknowledged that he is the same person who was charged with hacking into NIC Bank in January, adding that Safaricom picked him among the other suspects because of the NIC case.
• Mr Mutuku was early this week charged with manipulating Safaricom’s computer system and stealing electronic airtime worth Sh20,000.

The 26-year-old IT expert at the centre of ongoing investigations into air time theft at Safaricom is also facing separate criminal charges for his role in last December’s hacking of a bank’s system, it emerged on Thursday.

Alex Mutungi Mutuku acknowledged that he is the same person who was charged with hacking into NIC Bank in January, adding that Safaricom picked him among the other suspects because of the NIC case.

“I was arrested in early January for allegedly hacking into NIC Bank. The case is ongoing. Now when Safaricom was hacked and it found that I, like other subscribers, had bought the stolen airtime without knowing, they were very quick to arraign me,” Mr Mutuku said in an interview.

The University of Nairobi’s Bachelor of Information Systems graduate was early this week charged with manipulating Safaricom’s computer system and stealing electronic airtime worth Sh20,000.

Mr Mutuku appeared before a magistrate at Nairobi’s Milimani Law Courts where he was charged and his case set for hearing on May 19.

READ: Safaricom cracks down on subscribers in airtime fraud

In the NIC Bank case, Mr Mutuku alongside two others are accused of hacking into the bank’s customer database and obtaining information for which he demanded to be paid Sh6.2 million in bitcoins.

Bitcoins are a form of virtual currency that is traded online and has at times been used by criminals to launder illicit funds.

It is also alleged that the suspects, on diverse dates between August 2 and 5 at the NIC Bank head office in Nairobi, stole Sh2.88 million belonging to the bank.

The double prosecution of Mr Mutuku highlights the rising wave of cybercrime that Kenyan companies are facing as the country’s pool of IT savvy individuals increases. 

Mr Mutuku on Thursday expressed anger at the fact that Safaricom had chosen to prosecute him based on the fact that he had another case in court.

“I’m very furious about this Safaricom thing. Charging me with the air time theft based on my history is wrong,” said the suspect, who is out on Sh20,000 bond.

Mr Mutuku added that he is self-employed and survives on earnings from mobile applications he develops, which are hosted on Google Play.

“I was in Kathiani High, scored an A and at University of Nairobi I graduated in 2012 with an Information Systems degree and I know how to code in most languages. Java, C++, Web languages like Php,” he added.

A background check on social media gives a glimpse of Mr Mutuku’s IT savvy. On March 7, 2013, Mr Mutuku posted on his Facebook account how he was able to download and read for free the Nation epaper using a programme he had developed as a first year student at the University of Nairobi