A Chinese national living in Kenya is under investigation by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for allegedly defrauding a construction firm of more than KSh170 million.
According to investigators, Zhensheng Liu and his accomplices are accused of forging documents to open a parallel bank account in the name of Weihai Construction Limited, a Chinese-owned firm operating in Kenya.
The account was allegedly used to divert multimillion-shilling tender payments meant for the company.
The fraud reportedly went undetected for months until an internal audit exposed discrepancies in the firm’s financial statements.
The audit revealed that payments from clients had been redirected to a separate account at a local bank without the knowledge or consent of the firm’s directors.
Documents and statements seen by Citizen Digital indicate that Liu allegedly presented forged authorization letters and fake board resolutions to the bank to legitimize the new account.
The forged paperwork included falsified signatures of senior company officials who were in China at the time, unable to travel due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The DCI’s Banking Fraud Investigations Unit has since launched a detailed probe into the alleged forgery and diversion of funds.
Handwriting and signature analyses are ongoing to verify the authenticity of documents used to open the account.
Sources close to the investigation say that the company’s genuine bank accounts have since been frozen under a court order pending further examination.
The alleged fraud is believed to have occurred in 2020, during the pandemic’s peak, when company operations were disrupted. The case is set for mention and direction on October 29, 2025.
If found guilty, the suspects could face charges related to fraud, forgery, and theft by servant under Kenyan law.