How Ex-Governor Ended Up Buying Ksh9.9M Range Rover Stolen In UK

A former governor on April 13, 2023, paid Ksh9.9 million (US$71,600) for a sleek Range Rover Vogue that was to be delivered to Kenya but was nabbed at the port of Mombasa before it could even get to him.

A report by Citizen TV on Sunday, June 11 revealed that the luxury SUV had left the United Kingdom (UK) for Dubai while the governor already made payments for the car on that date.

The Range Rover arrived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on May 15, 2023, and was issued a certificate for shipping by a motor dealer to the port of Mombasa, Kenya.

The former county boss, whose identity was not revealed in the report, made the payments to the dealer in Dubai and was issued an ocean transport card by emporium cars in UAE after paying transit costs.

A Range Rover vehicle at the port of Mombasa. /CITIZEN DIGITAL

However, the car was seized at the port of Mombasa after it emerged that it was stolen in London.

According to a report by the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service in the UK, while responding to inspection inquiries made by QISJ -the firm subcontracted by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) noted that the chassis number for the Range Rover did not match its actual number as per records.

“The chassis number displayed on this car is for a 2020 car, the car you have is actually a 2019 model and not 2020. The identity labels are fake but the engine number is genuine. the car was reported stolen in the UK on 21/09/2022," stated the report.

According to the KEBS letter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), their inquiries from the Metropolitan Police in the UK revealed that the Range Rover shipped to Kenya is registered in the UK and is paying taxes to the government.

The vehicle that was imported by the former governor who fell victim to the con dragnet by the individuals in Dubai is now a subject of police and Interpol investigations, with KEBS seeking to have it shipped back to the point of origin.

In similar circumstances, through a different syndicate, a Lexus vehicle from the United Kingdom was found to have been stolen in Tilbury, a port town in England.

Another Range Rover Sport was also flagged for bearing duplicate chassis numbers with other cars in the United Kingdom.

The car export operatives are said to have found a new route to ship their consignment into Kenya without undergoing quality inspection, a matter which has KEBS calling for the tightening of inspection procedures at the port of entry for all motor vehicles.

Being Careful Before Buying A Stolen Car

While car ownership is one of the most coveted statuses in society, it can become one of your major sources of stress in case it is not executed with caution and care, especially when you are buying a secondhand car.

It is estimated that imported second-hand vehicles account for 85 per cent of car purchases in Kenya, meaning that most Kenyan car owners buy used cars, however, used cars, whether imported or locally bought, do not give a guarantee that they will give the best service to the owner.

Before importing or buying an imported used car, you need to cross-check carefully lest you end up with a stolen car. In 2011, the Kenya Criminal Investigation Office urged Kenyans wishing to import vehicles to consult the Regional Interpol Office in Nairobi to make sure they are not buying cars stolen from another country.

This was after information was revealed that Kenya and other countries in the region were increasingly becoming the market for four-wheel vehicles stolen by an international criminal ring from as far as the United Kingdom.

Car buyers should thus use experienced car dealers to ascertain genuine cars lest they end up losing money. A detective who spoke to Business Daily in a past interview noted that the Interpol office has an inventory of all vehicles stolen across the world and at a click of a button, they are able to tell whether a car was stolen or not.

This service is free so the would-be buyers should have no reason to buy stolen cars.

Charles Munyori, Secretary-General of Kenya Auto Bazaar Association, noted that one should have the engine and chassis numbers of the vehicle one wants to buy checked to establish if it has been reported stolen in other countries.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) also keeps records of all registered cars and one can check if the car had changed ownership legitimately.