In court in March 2017, Alex Mutuku was accused of committing one of the most enigmatic crimes ever to be documented in a Kenyan court of law. Mutuku, who was 28 at the time, was charged with engaging in a computer intrusion that cost the Kenya Revenue Authority Sh. 4 billion. The extent of the hack was so significant that all major international news outlets covered the issue.
The charge sheet states that Mutuku was charged with defrauding KRA and, after allegedly interfering with the computer systems, causing the loss of Sh. 3,985,663,858. Following this accusation, it came to light that Mutuku had been leading a life of extreme opulence.
Along with Calvin Otieno Ogalo, Albert Komen Kipkechem, David Ndung’u Wambugu, Lucy Katilo Wamwandu, Edward Kiprop Langat, Kenneth Opege Riaga, Omar Ibrahim, James Mwaniki Gakung’u, Gilbert Kiptala Kipkechem, and Joseph Kirai Mwangi, Mutuku was charged.
The accusations were rejected by them. According to reports, the hacking occurred between March 2015 and March 2017. The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) was able to obtain court orders freezing these people’s accounts.
However, other Kenyans spoke forward to question the accused hacker’s notoriety. It all began when well-known blogger Robert Alai questioned how the purported crime was reported. Then James Sang, another Kenyan, posted:
I pay additional attention when an occurrence like this is publicized since I have a keen interest in IT. But the narrative raises more queries than it does answers. A purported “billionaire” who earns a career by “hacking” computer systems, most recently the KRA systems, is given all kinds of labels by the reporter. In addition, the writer doesn’t even mention the hacker’s technical talents, if any, or the exploit he used to get into the networks.
There is no explanation of the specific systems that were compromised or how they were linked to other systems that allegedly held 4 billion shillings. Even the reporter may not fully get what “hacking” or “hackers” are. One does not automatically qualify as a hacker just because they make that claim. (And I put him to the test by having him try to log into a laptop first.) Even though I’ll include a login and password, I bet he won’t know them. He is also a “Billonnaire,” then, right?
So what is his net worth? Does the reporter know this, or did she just go through his Facebook page and see him riding a motorcycle and an SUV through a cornfield? Is he now a billionaire because of that?
Despite the fact that Mutuku seemed to be obsessed with celebrity and display, his lavish lifestyle could not conceal his billionaire status. Since then, he has made an appeal to Kenyans for donations in order to assist him raise money to post bail.
Some people are of the opinion that Mutuku may have been a cover-up while other agents stole the billions from the taxman. But it is still unclear whether the prosecution will be able to demonstrate how the Sh. 4 billion disappeared from KRA systems as a result of the hacker’s actions.
by: Bespokerobah