Kenyans charged in US fraud case

• Government agencies tricked into paying $3.3 million to bogus firms in internet scam

Five more Kenyans have been charged in an international fraud case in which US government agencies were tricked into paying at least $3.3 million to bogus companies.

The five, Michael M. “Mikie” Ochenge, 33; Robert M. “Robe” Otiso, 36; Paramena J. “Joseph” Shikanda, 35; Albert E. Gunga, 30; and Collins A. Masese, 20, all living near Minneopolis, were born in Kenya.

Prosecutors outlined an elaborate global scheme in which computers in Kenya accessed US government websites to glean information for the scheme.

The conspirators also allegedly received packages from Kenya with fake passports and sealed, addressed envelopes later placed in the US mail. Two of the packages came through the United Arab Emirates.

Wired to Kenya

Charges are that Ochenge, Otiso and Shikanda devised a scheme that exploited increased use of the Internet by the public and private sectors to conduct business.

Posing as providers of services to state agencies, they allegedly managed to scam $1.2 million from Massachusetts, $919,000 from West Virginia, $869,000 from Kansas and $301,000 from Ohio.

The money had been intended for either Deloitte Consulting or Accenture Corp.

Along with Gunga and Masese, Ochenge, Otiso and Shikanda allegedly conspired to launder the proceeds, with $770,000 wired to Kenya. Most of the money had come from West Virginia.

Officials in the other three states have since recovered their money.

Similar names

The indictment also mentions Angella Muthoni Chegge-Kraszeski, a 33-year-old Kenyan-born North Carolina resident married to a US citizen.

Chegge-Kraszeski allegedly registered companies with similar names to the legitimate firms — spelling them as “Deloite” and “Acenture.”

Reported by AP Staff Writer John Hanna in Topeka, Stephen Majors in Columbus and Steve LeBlanc in Boston