A Kenyan lawyer got pulled into one of the world's biggest cryptocurrency scams—then watched as her con artists tried to use the law against her.

Jane Nyaboke Njagi made the mistake of listening to Steve Mwendwa and Emmanuel Gatobu in 2018. Both men were pushing OneCoin, the infamous Ponzi scheme that had already collapsed the year before. Mwendwa told Njagi he'd turned 900,000 Kenyan shillings into 47 million shillings in a short period. The claim was pure fantasy. OneCoin's cash flow had dried up by 2017, so any profits came from recruiting new victims, not actual cryptocurrency growth.

Njagi, a trained lawyer, didn't catch the con. She visited OneCoin's Nairobi office where Gatobu introduced himself as CEO. He offered her a simple deal: invest 777,000 shillings and make 1.6 million by October 8, 2018. She bought it. On September 24, 2018, Njagi deposited 867,000 shillings into a KCB Bank account under the name Stephlinks Holdings—one of the shell companies OneCoin routinely used to collect money.

Then came the twist. A week later, Mwendwa called with news. He'd borrowed 2.2 million shillings from his wife and invested it in OneCoin on Njagi's behalf. Without asking. Without permission. Then he demanded she reimburse him. When she refused, he threatened to blast her on social media as a fraudster.

Njagi still wouldn't pay. So Mwendwa did what any con artist does when his mark stops playing along—he went to the police. He filed a complaint and got an arrest warrant issued against Njagi on charges of obtaining goods by false pretense.

For three years, the case crawled through the courts. But it didn't go the way Mwendwa hoped. Justice Makau threw out the charges this year, ruling that the police had never heard Njagi's side of the story before moving forward. The judge saw what was really happening.

"The criminal proceedings seem to be made to secure ulterior intentions," Makau wrote, adding that police and prosecutors appeared "well bent to use the state machinery to intimidate and harass Njagi, which is a clear indication of violation of her rights and misuse of State resources."

More importantly, the judge ruled that any money dispute between them was civil, not criminal. Mwendwa's scheme fell apart under scrutiny.

Here's what actually happened: Mwendwa got Njagi to invest, pocketed his referral commission, then tried to dump his own worthless OneCoin onto her account to recover some losses. When she wouldn't play along, he weaponized the legal system. The con man became the accuser.

Njagi's case now sits with Kenyan investigators who are treating Mwendwa and Gatobu as criminal suspects. Three years of legal warfare later, the lawyer they tried to trap finally got her day in court. Justice prevailed. Barely.

🤖 Quick Answer

What was OneCoin and how did it operate in Kenya?
OneCoin was a Ponzi scheme that collapsed in 2017. Promoters like Steve Mwendwa and Emmanuel Gatobu continued recruiting victims in Kenya through 2018, claiming unrealistic returns on investments. The scheme generated profits solely through new recruit contributions rather than legitimate cryptocurrency growth, eventually targeting educated professionals including lawyers.

Who was Jane Nyaboke Njagi and why did she become involved?
Njagi was a trained Kenyan lawyer who invested in OneCoin after being approached by scheme promoters in 2018. Despite her legal background, she failed to recognize the fraudulent operation and visited OneCoin's Nairobi office, where she was offered investment opportunities with promised substantial returns on her capital.

How did OneCoin promoters exploit their victims?
Promoters used false income testimonials, fabricated

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