The police have been allowed to detain a software developer suspected of conspiring to defraud NCBA Bank of Sh57.5 million, for five days.
Milimani court magistrate Benmark Ekhubi granted the Banking Fraud Investigation Unit (BFIU) five days to complete investigations into fraud charges against Evans Harry Nandwa.
The police alleged that Mr Nandwa, a consultant, had been contracted by NCBA to do system maintenance and upgrading of the mobile and retail banking platforms its subsidiary in Rwanda, which uses the MTN mobile network.
The court heard that Mr Nandwa and others still at large, illegally made adjustments to the system, which cleared all cash withdrawal requests through the MTN network even in cases where accounts were non-existent or had insufficient funds.
The illegal amendment allegedly saw 70 customers in Rwanda initiate 260 transactions resulting in the said loss.
The court heard that Mr Nandwa and others committed the offence between June 6 and 14, 2025 and the lender lost $445,000 (about Sh57,534,000).
Amos Ndonyi, an investigator with the BFIU, told the court that the software developer was still in possession of the bank’s access logs, remote servers, and passwords, and releasing him at this stage could interfere with the investigations.
He added that Mr Nandwa was likely to interfere with the witnesses who are yet to record statements or that he may compromise, tamper, or delete crucial digital evidence.
“Due to the seriousness of the offence, preliminary investigations have established that he is working in cahoots with other persons and is likely to collude with the said accomplices resulting in further loss,” the investigator said in an affidavit.
He added that the police and the bank were still apprehensive that further loss may occur before the investigations are completed.
“This is a complex investigation, and the investigator needs more time to finalise investigations, hence request that this court to allow him to detain the respondent for ten (10) days at Capitol Hill Police Station,” Mr Ndonyi said.
The court allowed the police to detain the suspect for five days.
