Two people were arrested for allegedly blackmailing a civil servant

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has arrested two suspects who allegedly tried to extort Sh2 million from the Managing Director of a State Company through blackmail.

The duo allegedly told the director general that they would facilitate the withdrawal of the petition submitted to the court alleging misappropriation of public funds in the State Institution.

The arrest was made as part of an ongoing crackdown on criminals who extort money from senior government officials and private individuals by claiming to have adverse information against them.

The Commission, through Spokesperson Eric Ngumbi, confirmed that upon receipt of the complaint, the Commission launched an operation on Friday that would lead to the arrest of the two suspects.

The duo was caught at a restaurant in Nairobi for allegedly taking Sh1.7 million, which was part of the Sh2 million they demanded.

“The two are believed to be part of a growing number of litigious individuals in the country who pose as public-spirited citizens and passionate advocates of good governance, petition against government officials in court, and then seek large sums of bribes to drop the cases.” said Ngumbi.

These were processed at the EACC Integrity Center Police Station and later registered at Kilimani Police Station.

The commission released these people on police bail until further proceedings.

This comes weeks after the EACC arrested two Kenya Forest Service officers in Garissa for their alleged involvement in a fraud scheme.

The duo were said to have exploited casual workers for whom they would pay higher amounts They then demand that the excess amount be returned to them.

Ngumbi stated that civil servants deposited overpayments into temporary workers’ bank accounts under the pretext of legitimate compensation.

Police rescued a person A total of Sh73,000 was recovered, which was said to be part of the daily collection from the scheme.

It was alleged that the funds collected through this program were distributed among civil servants and their superiors.