By Correspondent
A Nairobi businesswoman has asked the police to investigate an unauthorised transfer of Sh500,000 from her bank account at Co-operative Bank Kimathi Street Branch in Nairobi.
In her report to the Banking Fraud Investigation Unit of the DCI, she claimed the money disappeared without her knowledge while her account details at the bank were fraudulently altered.
In a formal complaint addressed to the Director of the Banking Fraud Investigation Unit, the businesswoman said she discovered the missing funds on June 23, 2026, when she attempted to transfer money from her bank account to her M-Pesa account.
She said the transaction failed to proceed as expected, prompting her to review her account, where she discovered that Sh500,000 had already been transferred to an account held in Kenya Commercial Bank to a firm whose name has been withheld for legal purposes – transactions she neither authorised nor knows the recipient account holders.
The complainant said she immediately contacted the bank’s customer care service and the branch manager, who assured her the matter would be treated as urgent and advised her to visit Co-operative Bank Kimathi Branch.
While pursuing the matter, she said she also discovered that the email address linked to her bank account had been changed to an old email address without her consent, raising fears that her account may have been compromised.
On June 24, she visited the branch, filled out a formal complaint form, and met the branch manager, who promised to escalate the case to the relevant department for investigation and provide feedback.
However, the woman says she has not received any update from the bank despite the lapse of more than two weeks.
She has since reported the matter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Railways Unit and is now seeking the intervention of the Banking Fraud Investigation Unit.
In her complaint, she urged investigators to trace the unauthorised withdrawals, identify those responsible, recover the stolen funds, and ensure the money is refunded to her account.
She also wants investigators and the bank to establish how her account details, including the registered email address, were altered without her authorisation and to outline measures that will prevent similar incidents in future.
The case highlights growing concerns over cyber-enabled banking fraud and unauthorised access to customers’ accounts, as investigators continue to probe the circumstances surrounding the alleged loss.
Co-operative Bank said they are pursuing the matter.
BFIU officials said they had moved to court and obtained orders to freeze accounts that were used in the transactions.
The team handling the saga said they have recorded statements from various parties that were involved in the transactions.
Attempts to get comment from the bank were unfruitful as our calls went unanswered.
