A mobile phone repair technician is fighting a court case for using specialised electronic equipment to hack into M-Kopa’s security systems, allowing mobile phones acquired on credit to remain operational without customers completing their instalments.
Investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) linked Benjamin Okello to the unauthorised alteration of 26 phones belonging to M-Kopa Kenya, with forensic analysis indicating that 365 mobile phones had passed through flashing tools recovered from his repair shop in Mradi area in Mathare, Nairobi.
The company told the High Court that some of the devices had been marked lost, while others had their security software manipulated to circumvent restrictions imposed on customers who defaulted on their daily instalments.
After the raid, M-Kopa reportedly identified 24 of the 29 phones recovered from Mr Okello’s premises as belonging to the company.
Twenty-three of the phones had allegedly been tampered with to defeat its payment control mechanisms.
A further examination allegedly identified 18 additional phones associated with M-Kopa’s financing arrangements, valued at Sh303,487.
Of these, the company said, 17 were still active on loan but appeared inactive on its device management system, raising suspicions that their security mechanisms had been interfered with.
Founded in 2011, M-Kopa started its operations in Kenya and has expanded to Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana. The company says it has to date helped nearly five million customers access over Sh210 billion in credit to buy items like smartphones, solar power systems and health insurance.
The statement by M-Kopa emerged in a constitutional petition in which Mr Okello had challenged his arrest and prosecution for allegedly handling suspected stolen property, arguing that the police relied on unsubstantiated claims by the mobile phone financier.
The High Court, however, dismissed the case and allowed the criminal trial before a Makadara court to proceed.
“The fact that the 1st Petitioner [Mr Okello] operated a repair business does not, by itself, immunise him from criminal investigations,” the court said.
The court added that at the same time, the mere discovery of mobile phones and diagnostic equipment at his premises cannot, without additional circumstances, establish criminal conduct.
In an affidavit filed in court, M-Kopa’s global fraud investigations manager, Edgar Samba, said that the company finances mobile phones through daily instalment arrangements, retaining ownership of the devices until customer’ complete payment of the purchase price.
He said the company uses software that enables it to remotely restrict the use of financed devices when customers default on their payments.
However, the financier said it had experienced cases in which financed phones were stolen or their security software interfered with, allowing customers or third parties to continue using the devices without meeting their payment obligations.
In February 2025, the company received complaints from customers whose phones had allegedly been stolen and advised them to report the incidents to the police.
On July 10, 2025, M-Kopa lodged a complaint with the police, prompting investigations that led officers to Mr Okello’s business premises at Gateway, Mradi, in Mathare.
The police reportedly raided the shop and arrested the technician, who describes himself as a mobile phone repairer.
Officers allegedly recovered 71 mobile phones alongside computers, laptops, external hard drives and specialised diagnostic and flashing equipment, including Pandora, Chimera and U.F.I boxes.
The equipment was subjected to forensic examination by the DCI, which allegedly established that hundreds of phones had passed through the recovered tools.
M-Kopa stated that the equipment was capable of interfering with the security software installed in its devices, enabling the restrictions imposed on financed phones to be bypassed.
The police subsequently charged Mr Okello at the Makadara Law Courts with being in possession of suspected stolen property contrary to Section 323 as read with Section 36 of the Penal Code.
But Mr Okello, together with lawyer Gabriel Owade alias OG Makowade, moved to court seeking to invalidate Section 323, arguing that it criminalises suspicion rather than proven criminal conduct and shifts the burden of proof to an accused person.
They argued that the provision requiring a person found in possession of property reasonably suspected to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained to give an account satisfactory to the court violates the presumption of innocence and the right to remain silent.
Mr Okello maintained that the phones recovered from his premises belonged to customers who had taken them to his shop for diagnosis, repairs, software servicing and replacement of components.
He said he had operated a legitimate repair business for several years, routinely receiving devices from customers and issuing job cards or receipts before retaining them pending collection.
He further argued that he could not reasonably be expected to know the financing arrangements between customers and third-party financiers, adding that outstanding loan balances, alleged interference with software and actual theft were separate matters that should not be conflated.
The technician also accused the police of conducting a search without a warrant and arresting him before establishing if the recovered phones had actually been stolen or that he knew they were unlawfully obtained.
He said officers seized not only the phones but also his tools of trade, including computers, laptops and diagnostic equipment valued at about Sh555,000.
