Wanted Land Grabber Arrested Trying To Bribe Cop At DCI Headquarters

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Thursday, December 7 arrested a wanted land grabber who showed up at the investigative agency's headquarters along Kiambu Road and attempted to bribe one of its investigating officers (IO).

In a statement on Friday, December 8, DCI revealed that Jackson Mwangi Wambui, a renowned serial land fraudster believed to be part of a dreaded well-organized land-grabbing cartel that targets elderly white residents in posh Nairobi suburbs is currently in custody.

Mwangi and his accomplice, Macharia, were arrested after showing up at the Land Fraud Investigations Unit (LFIU) offices to influence an investigating officer (IO) to go slow on a case in which they were accused of attempting to grab a 0.2026 hectares parcel of land at Thome V area.

"In the daring bribery attempt to the country's highest criminal investigations agency, all Jackson Mwangi sought from the investigator was a two-month delay in the ongoing investigations, within which he would have obtained a "fake original" documentation of the land.

"Unbeknownst to the suspects, their names have for years been on the Unit's radar of the most notorious land fraudsters in the country," stated the DCI in part.

In this case, a team led by Jackson had in December 2022 been thrown out of the land in question which is located behind Roasters Hotel.

This is after they were found erecting a perimeter wall under his (Jackson) supervision. At the time, the case of attempted grabbing had been reported to the LFIU by yet another interested grabber, who disappeared as soon as investigations gained momentum.

After acquiring the proper documents of the parcel, detectives found out that the land belonged to a deceased Kenyan whose wife and two children were being threatened by Jackson's ring after they reported the matter at Kasarani Police Station. Within the period, Jackson was (and still is) battling a similar case of grabbing involving a parcel of land at Runda.

"Asked to produce proof of ownership of the land, the Jacksons vanished until recently when they requested to have a sitting with the IO. Suspecting that they were up to no good, the IO asked them to meet him at his office within DCI Headquarters, to which they agreed. 

"Once in the office, they pleaded with him to halt the investigation process as they had found a way of acquiring fake documents, but they needed January and February to wind up the process. "You can then take us to court any time in March. We will know how to handle it there," they said," added DCI.

For the favour, Macharia placed Ksh200,000 on the table as a tip to the officer, all this time unaware that the office they had been ushered into had mounted cameras that recorded all the ongoings.

DCI Operations detectives then moved in and whisked them away with the exhibits for processing and arraignment.

On Friday morning, the case file bearing the appropriate charges was forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) in Kiambu for directions to have the suspects appear in court.

The ODPP directed the IO to release the two on Ksh200,000 cash bail to allow the office enough time to peruse the file.

Preliminary criminal analysis conducted by the DCI Online and Digital Platforms Unit revealed numerous cases of land fraud implicating Jackson's cartel, including the attempted grabbing of Richard Hooper's Karen home on January 18, 2023, where he impersonated the Deputy OCS Karen Police Station.

The matter, as widely reported by the media, saw Karen residents appeal for protection against the cartel targeting the elderly white residents after two individuals claiming ownership of a home by an elderly couple in the estate were prevented by residents from executing what was described as a planned land grab.

The stand-off quickly attracted the attention of fellow Karen residents via social media alerts, with some rushing to Mr and Mrs Hooper's aid.

Eric Munyua, an official of the Karen Residents and Owners Association, said: “This is one amongst the many cases that we have in the Karen area whereby strangers appear out of nowhere claiming to own land of some of our members yet we know our members very well and we even keep records to show who has lived where for how long.”

The case is pending at Ngong Law Courts.