Dangerous Scam - Nairobi, Kenya

Security Alert 02 December, 2008

Prominent Kenyan Wildlife researcher and Honorary Game warden victim of million shilling fraud by gang of 3 women and one man probably using a subdermal dose of the "date rape" drug Scopolamine, through which the gang totally controlled her for more than three hours. Long enough for the gang to be given over one million Kenya shillings, withdrawn by the victim from
her own Bank account.

Date of Incident: Thursday, 27 November 2008 at approximately 9.30 AM

The victim of this scenario, a woman, we’ll call Mrs X had been undergoing physiotherapy at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) in Parklands, Nairobi, since 10 November, 2008. She would typically arrive every morning at about 09:00 for the daily two-hour session.

Mrs X parked her car at the back parking lot of the Aga Khan Hospital. When walking towards the Doctors Plaza she was stopped by a well dressed woman, who took her hand and held it, asking her questions about the whereabouts of a Maxwell group that had opened an office at the Aga Khan and was holding a conference to see how they can help orphan children who parents died of AIDS. Mrs X told the stranger that she had no idea because she was visiting
a Doctor at the hospital.

The woman finally introduced herself to Mrs X as 'Sister Gladys' and explained that she helps raise funds to support orphans from Taita Taveta and Rombo area. She also told Mrs X that her parents died when she was 5yrs old. The whole time Sister Gladys was telling Mrs X the story she was holding Mrs X’s hand.

As they stood talking, another lady walked passed them and Sister Gladys asked the woman if she knew about the Maxwell group. This woman told her that they had opened an office along Ngong road near Masaba hospital. By “coincidence” Sister Gladys knew the 2nd lady who eventually introduced herself Mrs Kamau.

The gang had obviously been doing surveillance on Mrs X for quite some time and knew how many children she had, who her family members were, etc. This information, combined with effects from the drug (which had apparently been transferred by holding hands with Sister Gladys), persuaded her to follow these two ladies because they convinced her that the Aga Khan was full of devil spirits.

All three women got into what Ms. Kamau claimed was her car and drove to the High Ridge Nakumat parking lot. At the parking lot one more women and a man joined them in the car. At the parking lot some more rubbing of Ms X’s arm took place. All the time Sister Grace was speaking to her, asking her questions about herself and managed to extract information about Mrs X’s accounts and amounts being held in each.

She did not have the account number of her current account, so was asked to call her sister-in -law to get the information. That was 11:30a.m. After that she was asked to switch off her phones.

She was asked to go into the Nakumat to buy some eggs and later to write something in her diary, which she did. Mrs X’s assumption, once she came to her senses, was that these actions comprised a trial to see if the drug was having the desired effect to render her docile and compliant, yet still ambulatory and functional.

They then drove to the Kenya Commercial Bank at Kencom House. On arrival at the Bank, she was then told to withdraw from her savings account Ksh1,150,000 and Ksh150,000 from her current account. The male person in the car accompanied her to the Bank. He queued for her and then when it was her turn to withdraw money he left her alone in the queue after telling her that it was getting late and therefore, she should only remove money from the savings account.

The clerk at the Bank seemed to be concerned about the amount she was withdrawing and only gave her Ksh 50,000 over the counter and asked her to come inside for the rest. She was given the money and handed the bag to the man to carry, and they both left the bank. Once outside, they got into the parked car. She was then asked to hand over the money. They drove to an
Uchumi by Nairobi Cinema and asked Mrs X to go into the store and buy a mirror. When she came out of Uchumi they were gone.

She wandered around town for quite some time, not aware of what she was doing. She eventually finished up again in front of the Bank about 1345 hours. She sat there for some time and then called one of her employees who immediately came and collected her.

It was only on Friday afternoon, when she went back to the AKUH to collect the car and to speak to the nurses in Physiotherapy, when they told her that she had actually not come for treatment on Thursday and that she was seen talking to and leaving with a woman, that suddenly the memory of what had really happened began to flood back.

Search results from the Internet suggest that M. was the victim of ‘burundanga’, or something similar, in which the perpetrators contrive to achieve topical or oral administration of scopolamine, or some similar derivative of narcotic plant families like Solanaceae. It should be noted that there were no medical tests to confirm or refute this hypothesis.

Mrs X has been to the police twice, and to the hospital and bank. She is also trying to reach a journalist with the local press to try to alert others of this gang's activities. Her boss has been in touch with UN Security, the security group for the hospital, and two private security companies. They will be posting alerts. Several people have written to Soila relating similar incidents. A search of the Internet reveals the use of one drug for this kind of robbery. One of the security companies knew of another drug.

The Perpetrators
As best as Mrs X can recall, the perpetrators were:

Sister Gladys, who intercepted the victim in the parking lot was a good looking person, around 30 to 35 years old, medium build, well-dressed in a Kitenge outfit. Evidently the leader of the group. She was a very convincing talker.

The second woman, who called herself Mrs Kamau, was elderly, slim, medium build and dressed in a pink skirt suit.

The man who accompanied her into the bank who earlier introduced himself as Mr. Mumanyi was dressed in a black suit, he was about 5ft 7”, around 40 to 45yrs old and around 90 kilos.

The third woman Mrs Mumanyi was around 40 to 45 years old, tall, slim, dressed in a black skirt, black and white blouse.

TIPS
Thieves take advantage of people’s eagerness to be helpful. It is advisable to be very cautious when speaking to strangers, shaking hands or taking pieces of paper from people that you don't know. It's better to be rude, than to be taken by a scam. You should also be wary of being predictable in your daily routines as this makes you an easy target. Always try to vary
routes, times, appointments and even vehicles whenever possible.