More nabbed in logbook fraud at NTSA as sleuths start clean up

Joint Operation involving Traffic Police officers and NTSA officials in a crackdown on unroadworthy vehicles and Motorcycles along Langata road. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Two more suspects have been arrested by the police to help in investigations into the logbook and car fraud syndicates at the NTSA.

The two were on Friday presented before a Makadara court and the DCI granted seven days to hold them as they complete their investigations.

The duo was arrested after a city businessman reported to the police that he had lost his car to fraudsters who used a forged logbook to secure a loan from microfinance.

According to the trader, while driving a car belonging to his wife, he was confronted by four men who demanded that he hands over the key to the car.

The victim initially though the four were criminals but later learnt that they were auctioneers who had been sent to repossess his vehicle.

He was shocked to learn that the car had been used as collateral without his knowledge.

The man's wife was also not aware of any loan where the family car had been used as collateral.

After the police opened investigations, they learnt that criminals had fraudulently used logbooks of this vehicle to secure a loan from microfinance. Details of the same vehicle were also used to register another motor vehicle.

Police later learnt that the criminals had secured a loan of Sh876,000 using documents of man's vehicle without his knowledge.

The arrest of the two brings to six the number of suspects in police custody in connection with the racket.

DCI chief George Kinoti last Wednesday made a visit to the NTSA offices in Upper Hill and said that the police will be cleaning the NTSA head offices.

Last week, four suspects among them staff of NTSA were arrested over the racket.

Another Nairobi businessman has reported that his lorry had been used as collateral by local microfinance without his knowledge.

It has since emerged that rogue officials at the NTSA head offices working with criminals have been altering logbook details and using them to defraud banks of millions of shillings.

Kinoti said their investigations had revealed that criminals at NTSA were even changing the official records in the NTSA database.

In one case, a lorry that had been used as collateral with a local bank ended up being auctioned by microfinance which had issued money to a criminal who used the doctored logbook to secure a Sh2.6 million loan.

Kinoti said the businessman had been financed by a local bank to acquire the vehicle after depositing Sh1.2 million. The trader entered into an agreement with the bank to pay Sh166,000 monthly payments to the bank in settling the balance advanced to him.

With the current economic hardships, the businessman was unable to make the monthly payments and entered into an agreement with another trader.

However, the businessman who was required to make the new deposits to the bank died before he could complete paying for the lorry.

It is at this point that the family of the dead businessman decided to sell off the lorry. They were happy when a trader promised to purchase the vehicle at Sh2.6 million.

They were even more excited after the buyer paid for the vehicle by issuing two cheques of Sh1.3 million each towards the purchase of the vehicle.

Their joy was short-lived as the two cheques bounced but by then the new owner was already in possession of the vehicle.

The sellers were even more shocked when after a search at the NTSA revealed that all the details of this vehicle had been altered, including the history of this vehicle.

“Crooked NTSA officials who claim that the system was hacked, had developed new documentation for the lorry and used the fake papers to acquire the loan,” Kinoti said.

The four suspects in custody are expected in court next week to face charges including forgery and issuing a bad cheque.