An American woman linked to a fraudulent scheme known as Amazon Web Worker that milked millions of shillings from unsuspecting Kenyans has been arrested.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrested the 50-year-old suspect, identified as Stacey Marie Parker Blake,at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) minutes after she had disembarked from her flight on Friday.
According to DCI, the arrest came after intensive investigations by serious crimes detectives that linked her to the ponzi scheme.
In a well coordinated and orchestrated scheme, investors were duped into investing their money in an online app known as Amazon Web Worker, on the premise that they would earn huge profits of upto 38% for a deposit lasting only 7 days.
Social media platforms were awash with advertisements wooing Kenyans to the mouthwatering scheme, that promised to double one’s deposits in a month.
In one such advertisement, investors who deposited Sh100,000 were promised Sh351,000 after 30 days! All one needed for his/her application to be successful was to register their personal details such as full names, M-Pesa account details & mobile phone numbers in the online app.
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.
The app 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.