By Frank Luambo
After two years on the run, Joshua Muriuki, the main suspect in a major heist targeting Safaricom and Airtel, as well as numerous landowners, has been arrested and charged. Muriuki, 52, was initially detained alongside accomplices Peter Kyalo and Michael Wachira Karieri for impersonating telecommunications staff and deceiving landowners into paying fees with promises of income from telecom booster installations.
Charged in Wanguru Court, Kirinyaga, Muriuki initially secured release through a Ksh 7 million bond backed by his father’s land title deed. However, upon release, he vanished, failing to honor court summons, leaving his father, Mr. Gedeon Muriuki, 65, entangled in a protracted legal and personal ordeal as police issued repeated arrest warrants.
Desperate to bring Muriuki to justice, his family enlisted private investigator Jane Mugoh, CEO of Thrimo Security and Investigations. Mugoh uncovered Muriuki’s strategy of using deceased individuals’ IDs to register new phone numbers, eluding detection for two years.
In a public appeal on October 23, 2024, Mugoh circulated Muriuki’s photo online, seeking help in locating him. The following day, a tip led her and Githurai police to a local bar, where Muriuki was found and arrested alongside another suspect posing as a KDF officer.
Back in Wanguru Court on October 25, Muriuki faced charges of fraud under Section 317 of the Penal Code. His alleged conspiracy defrauded his own father of over Ksh 6.7 million, along with other serious charges from the original case. Meanwhile, his co-conspirators, Kyalo and Karieri, are currently serving five-year sentences for their roles in the fraud.
“I want to thank the public for their support in bringing this matter to a close,” stated Mugoh. “Community cooperation is key in apprehending fugitives and ensuring justice.”
