Investors cry foul as suspected pyramid scheme directors disappear

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is warning Kenyans to avoid a suspected pyramid scheme after thousands of investors reported losing money.

The DCI said NMK Capital Investment Limited has allegedly pooled “thousands of gullible investors who are now crying foul.” The company, registered in 2021, has seven directors including Ngugi Mucheru Keeru.

According to the DCI’s Serious Crime Unit, more than 5,000 investors entered six-month contracts with NMK, investing a minimum of KES 50,000. This would accrue 15% monthly interest or a similar compounded rate at the end of the contract.

The company also offered car rental services by leasing vehicles from owners, who reportedly received 30% of proceeds. Other ventures included off-plan properties.

“Investors are reporting to have lost millions of money from the investment and payments made for off plan houses, while some of those who leased out their vehicles have no track of them,” the DCI said in a statement.

The directors have now fallen out and Keeru has disappeared, the DCI said. As a result, the DCI is warning the public against NMK Capital Investment Limited and a sister company, Bidsworth Autorents Capital Limited.

“Nothing is left of their thousands and millions of investment,” the DCI statement said.

According to its website, NMK Capital Investment Limited offered “an extensive range of investment capabilities” in real estate, corporate car rental and project financing.

But the DCI said the company’s “sheer greed for riches is founded on fraudulence” and the ventures are under active investigation.

The DCI urged caution and due diligence before engaging in similar investment opportunities.

Kenya lacks laws that explicitly prohibit pyramid schemes. Perpetrators of these fraudulent schemes face minimal legal consequences, with the harshest potential penalty being a 3-year prison sentence for conspiracy to defraud under Section 317 of the Penal Code.