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A woman suspected to be the mastermind of a ponzi scheme that was used to swindle Kenyans out of hundreds of millions of shillings has been arrested.
Stacey Marie Parker, 50, was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Saturday upon arrival from USA.
Parker is linked to Amazon Web Worker, a ponzi scheme that drained potential investors of millions of shillings.
Users were duped into investing in an online get-rich-quick scheme that promised unusually high returns.
Those lured into the scheme through social media advertisements were promised a 38 per cent return on investment.
For instance, in one such advertisement, investors who deposited Sh100,000 were promised Sh351,000 after 30 days.
Amazon Web Worker leveraged the promise of quick cash through easy digital work.
Investigations show victims were required to apply for membership by providing personal information such as their full name, mobile phone number, and M-Pesa details.
Those who believed in the enticing opportunity registered and contributed money.
Some registered even their family members and friends.
Amazon Web Worker falsely claimed to be an affiliate of Amazon Inc. and was accessible via a mobile and web application.
Users were paid for referring others to the platform, a practice that has become the hallmark of similar pyramid schemes which have scammed Kenyans in recent years.
Users were also promised that they could earn between Sh2,500 and Sh5,000 in just 10 minutes every day by “helping Amazon merchants complete e-commerce orders through their mobile phones.”
It offered different membership tiers, each with its own perks.
The platform initially paid out the earnings and encouraged many people to invest and invite their friends, a victim said.
It was until when the app was removed from the App Store that investors realised something was wrong.
The sparked panic from a section of Kenyans who had invested in the service.
Soon after the app was deleted from Google Play, social media pages and mobile messaging groups associated with the service also vanished.
“They were shocked to learn that the app was not in any way linked to Amazon, a multinational technology company based in the United States,” police said.
The app went down with deposits worth hundreds of millions of shillings from gullible investors who had hoped to hit the jackpot once their deposits earned profits.
Police said they received several complaints about the scheme prompting an investigation.
Detectives linked Parker to the syndicate after painstaking investigations showed that she had pay-bill accounts in her name with a balance of Sh50 million, money believed to be deposits made by the unsuspecting victims.
Detectives handling the case said they plan to charge the suspect with money laundering, obtaining money by false pretense and computer fraud.
Edited by P.O
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