A payment-processing error that saw Sh6.74 million land in Dickson Yiaile Sitei’s bank account has triggered a criminal investigation after he allegedly spent the money instead of returning it.
Dickson Yiaile Sitei has been arrested over allegations that he spent Sh6.7 million mistakenly deposited into his bank account, turning a payment-processing error into a criminal investigation.
Detectives from the Banking Fraud Investigation Unit arrested Sitei on Saturday, October 24, along Lantana Road in Nairobi’s Westlands area, according to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The case stems from a banking transaction on November 18, 2025, when a company was processing 74 electronic payments. Among the transactions was Sh72,000 in rent owed to Sitei for the company’s shop in Suswa.
However, a processing error allegedly resulted in Sh6,744,354 intended for another company being deposited into Sitei’s account alongside the legitimate rent payment.
What followed is now at the centre of the criminal investigation.
According to the DCI, the company sought to recover the money after discovering the erroneous transfer, but Sitei allegedly spent the funds instead of returning them to their rightful owner.
The investigators have not disclosed how much of the Sh6.7 million had been spent, what the money was allegedly used for, or whether any portion has been recovered.
The case was subsequently forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), which reviewed the evidence and directed that Sitei face charges of intentionally withholding an erroneously delivered electronic payment and money laundering.
The first charge falls under Section 35 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018. The provision criminalises intentionally withholding an electronic payment delivered in error when it ought to be delivered to another person. A conviction under the section carries a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to Sh200,000, or both.
The second proposed charge is under the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, which criminalises specified dealings with proceeds of crime. The precise circumstances and evidence supporting that charge will be tested through the legal process.
Sitei was still in custody undergoing processing as he awaited arraignment, the DCI said.
His arrest places the spotlight on the legal consequences of retaining money that lands in a bank account by mistake. An erroneous credit does not automatically confer ownership on the recipient, and deliberately withholding the funds may attract criminal liability.
The allegations against Sitei have not been proved in court, and he remains entitled to the presumption of innocence.
The DCI has warned members of the public against treating mistakenly deposited funds as a windfall, saying anyone who deliberately retains such money instead of returning it to its rightful owner risks prosecution.
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