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Brian Mwenda, a fake lawyer, was detained by authorities as he was posing as an advocate and had already won 26 cases in the high court of Kenya, as per Kenyan entertainment news website Mpasho.
He practiced law for the 26 cases in front of High Court Judges, Magistrates, and Court of Appeal Judges, winning all of them, and none of the legislative authorities questioned Brian Mwenda's integrity before his arrest.
Netizens reacted to the bizarre news by bringing up the plot of the USA Network show Suits, where the character Mike Ross was charged with fraud for practicing law without a license. He, too, wasn't caught by many judges in his time.
Officials arrest fake Kenyan lawyer Brian Mwenda after 26 cases
A native of Kenya named Brian Mwenda was detained by the Kenya Police Service (KPS) after an investigation where they learned that he was posing as a lawyer, as per Business Day.
Astonishingly, Mwenda argued and managed to win all 26 cases he practiced. The cases were all presented before high-ranking professionals like the High Court Judges, Magistrates, and Court of Appeal Judges. However, he was eventually apprehended, and his streak was short-lived, as per The Statesman.
Brian Mwenda had applied a common international fraud strategy known as the Business Email Compromise (BEC), as suggested by the preliminary investigations of the Kenya Police Service (KPS).
Business Email Compromise is a deceptive strategy where Brian Mwenda exploited a different advocate’s inactivity status for his advantage. By applying for payment for his Practicing Certificate (PC), the imposter first made contact with the secretariat. The Statesman states that he might have been caught from the start, as his initial application was denied due to incorrect email credentials.
The Internet reacted to the unique circumstances of a Kenyan native managing to win 26 cases without proper education and practical knowledge of practicing law. Many even rose to support the man. Some of the reactions are given below.
Mwenda did not give up on the initial failure and kept trying more techniques to practice law in Kenya without a license.
How did Brian Mwenda manage to dupe the authorities?
Mwenda stayed resilient and eventually got unauthorized access to a different lawyer's account whose name was not disclosed, and he took control of the portal. He then altered his profile picture and workplace details to merge in with the actual lawyers.
Moreover, the Kenyan drafted and sent an application for a practicing certificate to the officials in court and even made the payment. His application was not accepted because he could not provide specific documents, which included a certificate of business incorporation. The application remained in limbo due to this particular security check, as per the Kenyan website, Mpasho.
Brian was eventually caught when the Law Society of Kenya’s (LSK) Nairobi Branch got multiple complaints from civilians about the lawyer. As per Business Day, the branch promptly decided to investigate and declared that Mwenda was not an actual advocate. They stated that he lacked the necessary license to practice as a lawyer in Kenya.
According to Africa Facts Zone, former Kenyan Governor Mike Sonko is determined to bail Brian Mwenda, the fake lawyer, after he found out his story of winning all 26 cases he handled. Sonko is also planning to sponsor Mwenda's education to help him achieve his dream of becoming a legitimate lawyer.
