Police in Machakos County detained a man they believe was posing as a Firearms Licensing Board (FLB) investigator.
Detectives discovered Dominic Ondari Ombogi, 42, at his Nguluni home in Matungulu with a variety of forged FLB papers and stamps.
Following a court order received from Kahawa Law Courts, his arrest was made possible by intelligence reports that identified him as the brains behind a terrible organization that issued phony firearm certificates to unscreened applicants.
“Ondari has been battling accusations of Stealing a Firearm and Making a Document Without Authority at the City Court, and has been out on Sh 500,000 bond,” police said on Monday.
In the ongoing investigation, the man is accused of tricking a Kajiado youth into thinking he could change the firearm’s certificate into his name, then subjecting the unknowing victim to endless paperwork that resulted in the theft of the weapon.
Police claim that early investigations have shown that Ondari, who purports to be a well-connected resource person on the firearms board, has only ever operated in the criminal underworld and has never held the position he claims to have at the Firearms Licensing Board.
“Upon his arrest, assorted filled firearm application forms, psychiatrist reports from Mathari Referral Hospital bearing different names, a seal from the Central Firearms Bureau, various FLB and Armatech Kenya Ltd rubbers stamps, four civilian firearm certificates, forged letters allegedly from the Nairobi region police command and several bank statements were seized,” detectives said.
Authorities said they had also established that jointly with others who impersonate officials in the board, Ondari targets vulnerable victims who are in haste to be cleared for the gun ownership, recklessly providing the fake certificates to anyone as long as good money changes hands.
“He even renews the certificates periodically at a cost of Sh 6,000,” police added.
The man was detained at Muthaiga Police Station to pave the way for investigations to establish other accomplices.
