Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have arrested Pascaline Peter, alias Passy Ma Trevor, who had been on the run after allegedly defrauding Ksh.350 million from unsuspecting Kenyans under the guise of a real estate investment opportunity that turned out to be a ponzi scheme.  

The 36-year-old suspect was arrested at her hideout in Kantafu, Machakos County; she has since been booked at Kasarani Police Station, pending arraignment on Friday.

Police reports indicate that the self-proclaimed businesswoman managed and rented out people's money through a money-lending institution operated in violation of the Banking Act and without proper documentation.

She ran an investment scheme where she took money from investors and promised them a 30% return on their savings. Most of her victims hail from Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, and Kiambu County.

"In a well-orchestrated scheme that involved convincing victims to deposit large sums of money into four different bank accounts across Equity Bank, Coop Bank, Stanbic Bank and Kingdom Bank, with a promise of up to 30% monthly interest, Passy Ma Trevor also falsely claimed she was running a successful real estate company that she used as a bait but once payments were made, she switched off her mobile phone and went into hiding," the DCI said in an X statement.

"Preliminary investigations have revealed that the 36-year-old woman who displayed opulence across her social media outlets managed to defraud over 200 individuals, with 106 formal complaints already filed against her."

After realising they had been duped, the victims reported the incident to the DCI which acted swiftly to arrest the suspect at her hideout in Machakos.

Following her arrest, the suspect was taken to Kasarani Police Station by DCI detectives and later interrogated by DCIO Justus Ombati.

Detectives say they will seek a 21-day detention period for the suspect to investigate several bank accounts linked to her. They also want to determine the amounts in these accounts and identify the sources of the deposits.

It has already been established that Pascaline received over Ksh.26 million in one of the bank accounts over the past two weeks. Police believe the money is part of the proceeds of crime related to the investment scam and her money laundering activities.

Some victims, including senior civil servants, were deceived into purchasing land that was never processed. Families Citizen TV spoke to expressed their frustration at having lost their lifetime savings through the scheme.

As of now, police have recorded statements from 136 complainants but expect the number of victims to exceed 300.

The suspect faces serious charges, including money laundering and operating a lending institution without proper documentation.