How Kenyan scammers targeted Uncle Sam

• Using slightly altered names of Deloitte Consulting, Unisys and other respected American firms, Kenyan crooks set out to defraud American states from Nairobi until things went wrong

To many Kenyans, America is the land of opportunity— the modern day version of Canaan. It is the place where money flows down golden streets.

The faraway land, whose name is synonymous with wealth and might, attracts millions of immigrants every year, droves of men and women flown across oceans by a desire to live the American Dream, to kiss want goodbye and usher in a new era of plentiful existence.

But this is also the land of one of the most efficient judicial systems in the world, and it is this last characteristic of the Promised Land of our times that landed six Kenyans in trouble last week after they were found guilty of trying to filch Sh272 million ($3.4 million) from state agencies across the country.

Angella Muthoni Chegge-Kraszeski, 34, wept in a Federal Court in the State of West Virginia as she was handed her sentence, but the judge was untouched.

“It’s fair to say you were the face of the conspiracy in the United States, at least to the extent that it was successful,” Judge John Copenhaver told Muthoni. “Many times, you could have withdrawn from it, but you didn’t.”

Overseers in Kenya

At an earlier hearing, Muthoni had told the same judge: “I did not know specifically what I had agreed to do, but I knew that it was not legal.”

A US Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, established by President Barack Obama recovered most of the funds that the Kenyan scammers had sought to swindle from the states of West Virginia, Massachusetts, Kansas, Ohio and, apparently, Florida and Utah as well.

But some $772,000 (Sh62 million) did make its way to the scheme’s overseers in Kenya. It may never be recovered.

Federal prosecutor Booth Goodwin hopes Kenyan authorities will act on leads and track down the scam’s masterminds. “We will continue to pursue more of the criminals who helped defraud the state,” says Mr Goodwin.

Muthoni apologised to the court on Tuesday for her crimes, saying: “I have brought so much shame... so much shame.” And, for her crimes, she will likely be deported from the United States after she completes the 20 remaining months of her time in prison, which began following her arrest in May 2009.

The five other Kenyans previously sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy also face deportation, including Paramena Shikanda, 36, who had been granted political asylum in the United States.

Two of the other fraudsters — Michael Mokua Ochenge, 33, and Collins Keanche Masese, 21 — were in violation of their US residency terms at the time of their arrests.

Chegge-Krazseski’s punishment is not limited to jail time and, due to the stain on her reputation, her attorney, Mary Lou Newberger, told the court on Tuesday: “In a very practical sense, it means the end of her marriage.”

The unemployed Kenyan’s 15-year-old son, who lives in Kenya, had been approved for a US visa, which has since been revoked.