Sh140m heist: Two arrested at border

NAIROBI, KENYA: Police on Wednesday arrested two people accused of stealing Sh140 million in Dubai three months ago.

Police said they arrested the two - a man and a woman - in Namanga. 

Detectives from Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said they recovered Sh13 million from the woman's house in Ruai, Nairobi.

Immigration officials at Namanga border tipped the police upon realising that the woman's passport had been flagged.

She was brought to Nairobi where she was interrogated. After being questioned, she then took the detectives to her house where they recovered some money, believed to be part of the stolen loot.

DCI boss George Kinoti said the suspects might have arrived in the country earlier, but travelled to Tanzania. The woman was arrested as she tried to re-enter Kenya.

Fled Dubai

The two and one other suspect fled Dubai after the robbery and United Arab Emirates security officials launched a probe in collaboration with Kenyan authorities and Interpol.

Kenya plans to extradite the suspects to Dubai to face charges. 

Dubai’s Ministry of International Corporation wrote to the Kenyan authorities, asking them to help trace the two.

The man worked as a security guard, according to Dubai media. 

The two are suspected to have stolen the money from a vehicle that was transporting the cash to an ATM at a popular shopping mall in the city.

Local dailies in Dubai reported that the man  distracted his colleagues at the mall before vanishing with the money alongside two others - a male and a female - at around 10.30pm on March 2, 2018.

Two weeks after the heist, Dubai Police arrested a suspect at a flat in Al Nahda in Sharjah. Another security guard was also arrested.