450 Car Logbooks Recovered as Detectives Raid a Cybercafé in Nairobi

Two suspects were on Friday arrested after they were found publishing motor vehicle logbooks at a cybercafé in Ngara, Nairobi.

Acting on a tip-off from the public, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) recovered over 450 motor vehicle logbooks during the operation.

Simon Musembi Sammy and Richard Otieno Ojwang were busted publishing the logbooks at the cybercafé located along Desai Road in Ngara. The logbooks had the original NTSA seals and assorted motor vehicle registration documents.

“The cybercafé reminiscent of a publishing house had been turned into a motor vehicle registration center, where an application for a logbook takes a few hours before it is delivered by an insider from NTSA,” the DCI says in a report.

The syndicate also illegally develops affidavits and commissions them before they are sent to contacts at NTSA for forced transfer of motor vehicles.

“In a matter of minutes, the transfer of a motor vehicle is finalized exposing the possibility of one’s vehicle being transferred without his knowledge,” DCI adds.

Investigations also revealed that the criminal enterprise develops falsified importation documents and ETR receipts from a renowned car dealer.

Also arrested during the raid is a man who had come to collect his logbook.

“Upon a quick inspection of the vehicle he was driving, the detectives realized that its chassis number had been tampered with,” DCI noted.

The operation came hours after sleuths arrested four National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) officials suspected to be behind a criminal syndicate that alters car logbooks and defrauds owners by changing ownership.