Airtel Money fraudster nabbed

Police in Mangochi have arrested a 31-year old ex-convict who stole K900,000 from Airtel Money subscribers.

This is according to Mangochi police publicist, Amina Tepani Daudi who identified the suspect as Henry Bauleni.

Daudi said the trickster has been thieving from people via electronic transactions from earlier this year at Mangochi Township and other parts of the country as a lot of people in the district have been complaining of related cases in the district.

The publicist said on the night of July 23, 2018 Mangochi Police detectives successfully apprehended Henry at his house in the area of Traditional Authority Mponda in Mangochi after tracking him through a call log follow up.

She further said it is believed that Henry managed to skin K900,000 from different Airtel Money agents and subscribers.

According to Daudi, more than 30 victims were scammed after the suspect convinced them that they had either won a competition or else pretended to be a customer wanting to do cash transactions.

After conducting a search in his house, officers found two cellphones, numerous Airtel simcards and a notebook full of phone numbers of victims and their Airtel money account pin codes which were being used to hack into their accounts and steal the money.

Daudi said the Mangochi Airtel branch has also confirmed that the serial numbers of the simcards of which the Police have recovered from the suspect match with those on record in Airtel’s system.

Meanwhile, Bauleni who hails from Maida village in the area of Traditional Authority Kapichi in Thyolo district has been charged with theft in accordance with section 278 of the penal code.
Police have since advised the general public to be cautious of such people and not to do any transaction concerning money before confirmation from their nearby service provider’s offices.