KIGALI, Rwanda, Jul 6- A court in Rwanda has sentenced to jail 8 Kenyans accused of cyber related crimes.
The 8, who were jointly sued by Rwandan authorities alongside four others, will spend 8 years behind the bars.
The 12 were arrested in 2019 by detectives drawn from the Rwanda Investigations Bureau (RIB) while trying to hack into the Equity Bank System to steal clients’ money.
The jailed Kenyans were identified as Dedan Muchoki Muriuki, Samuel Wachira Nyuguto, Kinyua Erickson Macharia, Godfrey Gachiri Githinji, Eric Dickson Njagi Mutegi, Reuben Kirogothi Mwangi , Damaris Njeri Kamau and Steve Maina Wambugu.
All the accused persons were convicted of criminal mischief or misdemeanor, computer access to information intended to commit a crime, change of computer information or network, unauthorized computer access and stealing.
They were also directed to collectively reimburse the bank Sh6 million.
The case had previously been delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Officials aware of the proceedings said the Kenyan suspects have been on the radar of police for cyber related crimes within the country involving millions of shillings.
Some of the accused persons from Kenya had either existing court cases of similar nature or were on police radar.
The ruling comes at a time when cyber related crimes have increased across the world.
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