The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has provided a detailed account of how the fake advocate Brian Mwenda Njagi managed to illicitly access the LSK portal, manipulate an account matching his name, alter the details, and upload his photo in an attempt to infiltrate Kenya’s legal profession.
According to LSK, an emergency meeting was called from 5 pm to 8 pm on a Wednesday evening to urgently investigate how Brian Mwenda breached LSK’s security and assumed the identity of a legitimate lawyer. LSK stated that Brian Mwenda assumed the identity of a lawyer with a name similar to his, Brian Mwenda Ntwiga. The legitimate lawyer contacted the Secretariat upon realizing he could no longer access the system.
On September 28th, after reporting his issue to ICT personnel, they discovered that the details in the system, especially his email address, did not belong to him, explaining why he couldn’t access his Membership portal. “On the 5th of August 2022, Brian Mwenda Ntwiga was admitted to the Bar, and his correct email address was captured, and an account was opened for him in the Advocates portal,” the statement noted. They added that Brian Mwenda Ntwiga hadn’t applied for a practicing certificate since his admission because he had been working at the Office of the Attorney General and didn’t require one.
It wasn’t until September 2023 when he tried to access his LSK Portal to apply for a Practising Certificate that he discovered he couldn’t do so. LSK initiated an internal investigation to determine how the email address was altered, violating protocols.
Preliminary findings indicated that Brian Mwenda used a common international fraud scheme known as Business Email Compromise (BEC). In this scheme, he identified a genuine advocate’s inactive status, contacted the secretariat, and attempted to apply for payment of his Practicing Certificate.
LSK disclosed that once Brian Mwenda gained access to the portal, he modified his profile picture, applied for a practicing certificate, and made a payment. However, his application was not processed since he needed to provide additional documents, including the certificate of business incorporation.
Emphasizing that their portal remained uncompromised and members’ data was secure, LSK invited the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to initiate a manhunt for Brian Mwenda. They expressed their determination to take decisive action against masqueraders who pose a threat to the legal profession.
https://x.com/AfricaFactsZone/status/1712856432998072347?s=20
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