Eric Adede: The man behind Sh2b fake currency scam

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations has revealed the identities of six suspects arrested at the Barclays Bank of Kenya’s Queensway branch in connection with fake US dollar bills amounting to Ksh 2 billion.

Those arrested on Tuesday were Dr Erick Adede, who was the owner of the safe box in which the fake bills were stashed in, Ahmed Shah, a fake investor, Elizabeth Muthoni, Irene Wairimu Kimani and two bank officials Boaz Ochich and Charles Manzi.

Adede vied for the Homa Bay Town parliamentary seat but lost to Peter Kaluma in the ODM primaries ahead of the 2017 elections. In 2014, he also unsuccessfully vied for Gor Mahia chairmanship but was defeated by current chairman Ambrose Rachier.

On Linkedin, Adede indicates he is the Executive Director & CEO at Khulisa Social Solutions-Kenya. However, when vying for the Gor chairmanship, questions were raised about his professional background and business interests even as he issued lofty promises on how he would turn around the club’s fortunes. There were allegations that he does not possess a PhD in law and was not practicing in South Africa as he claimed.

He had pledged that if elected, Gor Mahia would have its own its office, which some supporters doubted as he did not have his own office. He also wanted to run the club as a business yet the only entity that was associated with him was a bar in Syokimau.

Police were on Tuesday also holding a witness for purposes of recording a statement after they foiled a plan to defraud him of Ksh 10 million.

6 People were arrested today evening by @DCI_Kenya Detectives in connection with Fake currency amounting to slightly over 20Million US Dollars @Barclays_Kenya~Queensway Branch. The fake notes in 100 Dollar denominations were recovered from the Bank’s Safe Room|@Barclays_Kenya pic.twitter.com/nxIYOW7icE

— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) March 19, 2019

He was to deposit the money in the suspects’ account at the Queensway branch but Flying Squad officers acting on a tip off asked him to go to their offices. It is while there that the suspects begun calling him, stating that they were already at the bank.

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It is then that the Flying Squad stormed the bank and arrested them.