Nairobi man has admitted in court to masterminding a fraudulent SIM swap scheme that targeted former Central OCS Samson Talaam, whose phone was being held by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) as part of investigations into the controversial death of blogger Albert Ojwang’.
Dennis Masavi Musyimi pleaded guilty before Milimani Magistrate Dolphina Alego, confessing that on June 16, 2025, he unlawfully procured the replacement of Talaam’s SIM card by falsely posing as the rightful owner.
The court heard that the illegally acquired line was later used to solicit money from unsuspecting members of the public for Musyimi’s personal gain.
Musyimi was charged alongside Amos Nzomo Kimanzi and James Mutemi Munyithya, who denied the allegations and will face full trial. The trio jointly faced a count of computer fraud contrary to Section 26(1) of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018, with prosecutors alleging they conspired between June 16–19, 2025, to commit the offence.
In addition, Munyithya was separately charged with unlawful use of an identity card, after investigators linked him to the fraudulent use of Kimanzi’s national ID in processing SIM swaps. Kimanzi, on his part, was accused of knowingly allowing his ID card to be used in the scam, contrary to Section 14(j)(i) of the Registration of Persons Act.
Musyimi also faced an extra charge of obtaining registration by false pretence under Section 320 of the Penal Code, for impersonating a man named Kiprotich in order to fraudulently carry out the SIM replacement.
Prosecutors told the court the three were part of a wider syndicate involved in SIM swap fraud and identity theft, with several accomplices still being pursued by investigators.
The magistrate directed that Musyimi’s case proceed to sentencing, while Kimanzi and Munyithya’s matters were scheduled for pre-trial hearings.
