Detectives in Kitui have unearthed yet another pyramid scheme through which unsuspecting residents were conned of millions of shillings.

The company, Algo AI International, is purportedly a Malaysia-based multi-billion-shilling firm that deals in AI trading in US dollars with members being promised an interest rate of one per cent of the money invested daily.

In what would raise suspicions, individuals ready to invest at least Sh1,000 each day are promised an interest rate of 200 per cent of the amount of money they pump in. For example, an individual “investing” Sh1,000 each day is promised to earn Sh2,000 on top of the Sh1,000.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations County Officer Samuel Bett said they had arrested and prosecuted seven suspects last week.

The seven Festus Ruto, Festus Lee, Japhet Koech, Aron Bii, Duncan Nderitu, Malon Bett and Felix Kiprotich appeared before the Kitui Chief Magistrate David Mburu and were released on a bail of Sh80,000 each.

All seven were charged with practising as certified investment and financial analysts without a valid certificate. The case will be mentioned on September 24 when the hearing date would be fixed.

Suspected pyramid

Bett said the suspects were found to have been strategically inviting and offering lectures to unsuspecting members of the public with a view to recruiting and luring them into investing their money in a suspected pyramid scheme called Algo AI.

“The suspects conducted their operations through a network of proxies established to be operating around Kitui town, Wote, Emali and Kibwezi towns in Makueni and Meru counties between the diverse dates of July and September 2024,” Bett disclosed.

The suspects are said to first lure their prey through an invitation for lectures in posh hotels and conference facilities where they are convinced to allegedly invest their cash with Algo AI.

The suspects had already recruited 31 members in Meru, 21 in Emali, 31 in Wote and 29 in Kibwezi who had been contributing money to the scheme. Those who subscribe are promised an interest of one per cent of the money they contribute each day, and 30 per cent of the amount of money they contribute each month.

For example, an individual contributing Sh1,300 per month is promised to be paid Sh 6,500 per month.

“Members of the public are warned to be careful whenever anybody is approaching them with promises of such rewards in investment. Fraudsters are on the prowl in this country,” Bett, who has also urged his counterparts in Makueni and Meru to be watchful, said.

The unearthing of the Kitui scammers came only two days after detectives in Nairobi’s Kasarani arrested Pascaline Peter, alias Passy Ma Trevor, who had been on the run after allegedly defrauding Ksh.350 million from unsuspecting Kenyans under the guise of a real estate investment opportunity that turned out to be a ponzi scheme.

The 36-year-old suspect was arrested at her hideout in Kantafu, Machakos County; she has since been booked at Kasarani Police Station, pending arraignment on Friday.

Violated banking act

Police reports indicated that the self-proclaimed businesswoman managed and rented out people’s money through a money-lending institution operated in violation of the Banking Act and without proper documentation.

She ran an investment scheme where she took money from investors and promised them a 30 per cent return on their savings. Most of her victims hail from Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, and Kiambu County.

“In a well-orchestrated scheme that involved convincing victims to deposit large sums of money into four different bank accounts across Equity Bank, Coop Bank, Stanbic Bank and Kingdom Bank, with a promise of up to 30 per cent monthly interest, Passy Ma Trevor also falsely claimed she was running a successful real estate company that she used as a bait but once payments were made, she switched off her mobile phone and went into hiding,” the DCI said in an X statement.

“Preliminary investigations have revealed that the 36-year-old woman who displayed opulence across her social media outlets managed to defraud over 200 individuals, with 106 formal complaints already filed against her.”