Twenty years ago, six sharply dressed armed gangsters
swaggered into a Nairobi bank and after five minutes, they casually walked out
with Sh96 million stuffed in three gunny bags without firing a single shot.
At the time, this was a staggering amount that could be
ten-fold now, going by the current inflationary rate.
With almost divine calm, the thugs had emptied the entire
strong room of a tier-one bank’s headquarters, making it one of Kenya’s biggest
bank heists yet.
A hardened top city detective described the daylight heist
as “mafia-style” pointing out that in his entire career as a law enforcer, he
had never seen such a brazen and daring gang.
“I have not seen anything like this and I can assure you
that it was an inside and well-executed job,” Nairobi area Criminal
Investigations Department boss, Salim Swaleh, told the press.
The bank was Standard Chartered, Moi Avenue branch.
The thugs had struck the bank at 7.30am, stole Sh40 million,
some $90,000 and possibly other currencies in cash.”
Standard Chartered estimated the total stolen to add up to
Sh96 million, making this the biggest bank robbery in Kenya,” wrote The
East African Standard.
Newspaper columns noted how the thugs appeared relaxed and
were in no hurry. They escaped in a waiting vehicle that had all along been
parked on Moi Avenue. The stolen cash had been meant for the day’s operation.
A team of Securicor guards escorted by armed Administration
Policemen had come to make a large withdrawal only to be told that they
couldn’t get the cash as there “wasn’t any.”
Despite the robbery, normal operations started “as usual at
9am,” wrote The East African Standard. Police arrived at the building at
7.42am thinking that the thugs were still inside.
They cordoned off the building with their guns cocked as
others combed it. Roadblocks had been erected on city roads, and all cars
occupied by ‘suspicious characters’ were thoroughly searched before being
allowed to proceed.
