The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) nabbed World Coins Kenya's Head of Operations and Country Manager on Wednesday.
The two are Emmanuel Otieno, and Rael Mwende, now helping with investigations into its structure and operations.
The government has revealed that the now-viral cryptocurrency project Worldcoin, whose operations have since been suspended, is not a legally registered entity in the country.
The State, in a joint statement issued by the ministries of Interior and National Administration as well as ICT, disclosed in response to queries raised by Manyatta Member of Parliament John Mukunji on the floor of the House on Wednesday.
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According to the government, the foreign company outsourced its data capture services to a local company, now identified as Sense Marketing, which was hence responsible for collecting iris data from Kenyans in return for cryptocurrency tokens worth around Kes 7,000.
“Among the foreign nationals associated with Worldcoin, are a Mr. Poitr Piwowarczyk who is on record to have entered Kenya on several occasions, the last one being in June 2023 (Arrival – 11th June, 2023; Departure 25th June, 2023),” read the joint statement by Interior CS Kithure Kindiki and his ICT counterpart Eliud Owalo.
“Criminal investigations have commenced to establish the authenticity and legality of the aforesaid activities, the safety and protection of the data being harvested, and how the harvesters intend to use the data.”
“As a precautionary measure, the Immigration authorities have been directed to ensure that no persons whether Kenyan or foreign nationals associated with this entity leaves Kenya without the clearance of the Director of Criminal Investigations who is in charge of the ongoing investigations.”
Further, the government says the probe will extend even to individuals involved based outside the country through international procedures stipulated in the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) protocol.
It also stated that the cautionary statements issued to Kenyans through the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) came after it was established that the company did not conduct any public participation exercise before commencing its operations in the country.
