Four Chinese nationals have been arrested in Nairobi over an alleged SIM-swapping and money-laundering scheme in which a businesswoman’s mobile lines were hijacked and used to receive illicit funds.
The investigation was triggered after the complainant discovered that her two Safaricom lines had suddenly gone dead, leaving her unable to make calls or access M-Pesa services.
She reported the matter to police, prompting detectives from DCI Parklands to launch an investigation.
Detectives found that the complainant’s mobile lines were allegedly used to receive funds from a gaming and betting platform, which were then quickly transferred through mobile numbers and bank accounts linked to the suspects.
The investigation led to the arrest of Xiaoling Gu, Guodong Fu, Wenji Gao and Gu Xiaopeng.
A search of the suspects’ premises led to the recovery of 15 Safaricom SIM cards and 9 Airtel SIM cards registered under different persons, 6 SIM cards belonging to foreign nationals, 6 mobile phones, laptops, 3 ATM cards belonging to different account holders, and Ksh 1,125,800 in cash.
The four suspects were arraigned before the Kibra Chief Magistrate’s Court on September 1, 2026, and remain in custody pending a ruling on their bond application scheduled for September 4, 2026.
Detectives said they are continuing to follow the money trail and pursuing additional leads that could result in the arrest of more suspects linked to the fraud network.
