Beijing says Runda fraud ring likely targeted China

China will cooperate with Kenya in investigating the 77 Chinese nationals found operating an illegal cyber-command centre in a Nairobi suburb, Beijing officials say.

Chinese Foreign ministry officials said Friday their government was committed to supporting Kenya’s efforts to combat cybercrime.

They, however, sought to play down suspicions that the criminals were preparing to hit Kenyan targets.

This came after police said Tuesday the Chinese suspects, who were operating a cyber-hub from three houses in Nairobi’s upmarket Runda estate, were preparing to raid the country’s communication and financial systems.

There have also been claims they may be involved in spying.

One of the suspects holds a Thailand passport and the rest are from mainland China and Taiwan. They were charged in a Nairobi court with being in the country illegally and operating radio equipment without the permits needed.

“China will collaborate with Kenya to conduct investigations and bring criminals to justice,” reads a statement from Hua Chunying, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. The official, however, asked Kenya to observe the legal rights of the suspects in the quest for justice.

The suspected cyber-criminals, who have applied for bail, were discovered after a fire broke out in one of their rented houses, killing one of them.

Police had gone to the house to investigate the incident when they found a large group huddled in a room that had “advanced communication gadgets”.

The cyber-command centre in Runda, with its modern software, is said to be capable of infiltrating bank accounts, M-Pesa accounts and even ATMs. It is suspected to be the biggest such centre in Africa.

The 77 suspects are believed to have entered Kenya as tourists.

Ms Hua’s statement added that Chinese criminals have been known to set up and run telecommunication fraud dens in parts of South East Asia, including Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore. This case, she said, may signal the relocation of such crime rings to Africa.

“Telecom fraud cases in China exceeded 300,000 in 2013, resulting in a loss of more than 10 billion yuan ($1.63 billion),” the statement says.

“These crimes mostly target Chinese citizens asking them to transfer money to designated accounts based on fabricated reasons.”

The callers allegedly use their equipment to disguise their phone numbers as those of a public authority, including police, courts or banks, to trick or intimidate victims into following their instructions.

In October, police in Egypt arrested 96 Chinese accused of telecommunication fraud. Two fraud gangs uncovered in China’s Fujian province in May were found to be based in Indonesia and Kenya, Hua said. Police arrested 35 suspects.