Table of Contents
TL;DR,
- Kenya’s ATPU detained 22 suspects across 5 regions for crypto terror financing, uncovering a $430,000 virtual-asset laundering operation with suspected terrorism links to Tanzania.
- Kenya’s new Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2025 imposes penalties up to $154,000 and 10 years imprisonment for unlicensed crypto operations, requiring strict AML/CFT compliance and real-time regulatory access to transaction data.
- High-profile arrests include prominent Mombasa lawyer Andrew Chacha Mwita and businessman Abdisalam Hassan, with investigators examining digital wallets, cross-border fund flows, and cryptocurrency transactions bypassing traditional anti-money laundering screenings.
Cryptocurrency and its anonymity have been strongly linked to terror financing, but Kenya’s Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) stepped up, intensifying its pursuit with two recent detainees: businessman Abdisalam Hassan in Marsabit and prominent Mombasa lawyer Andrew Chacha Mwita.
Crypto terror financing has crept from Nigeria to Kenya. According to investigators, substantial evidence ties these suspects to cross-border transactions routed mainly through Uganda and Tanzania and linked to a terror cell. The sweep spans multiple cities—Nairobi, Mombasa, Kapseret, Moyale, and Marsabit—and arrives as Kenya’s new digital-asset rules take effect.
High-Profile Detentions in Counter-Terrorism Sweep
The anti-terrorism police crypto investigation began unfolding publicly when officers from Kenya’s Anti-Terrorism Police Unit detained Abdisalam Hassan in Marsabit. Following tensions outside the local police station, ATPU discreetly transferred him to Nairobi for security reasons. Officials say the Marsabit arrest represents the first reported crypto-related offense pursued this far from Nairobi.
Andrew Chacha Mwita, a well-known attorney who has spent the past decade representing clients facing terrorism-related accusations, found himself on the other side of the courtroom. The suspect was arrested on November 14, 2025, and transferred to ATPU headquarters in Nairobi the following day.
He went to the Kahawa Law Courts on November 17 with his defense team and argued that representing people who have been accused of crimes, even grave ones, is not criminal conspiracy but protected legal work.
Principal Magistrate Gideon Kiage ultimately granted a 14-day custodial order, allowing the anti-terrorism police crypto investigation team additional time to examine digital wallets, transaction histories, and cross-border fund flows. Prosecutors had initially sought 20 days, but the court settled on a two-week window with Mwita’s case scheduled for mention on December 1, 2025.
These arrests are part of a broader play, a coordinated national crackdown involving 22 suspects, five regions (Nairobi, Mombasa, Kapseret, Moyale, and Marsabit), and the steady reliance of cryptocurrency to bypass traditional ALM/CTF screenings.
Among those detained are Richard Muriuki Murimi, Said Galgalo Duba, Ali Mohamed, and Dhalha Abdi Mohamed—all of whom were granted two-week detention orders following November 18 hearings. In Eldoret’s Kapseret area, Anthony Odhiambo Odwuor awaited a November 25 ruling on a 15-day request, while Mombasa-based suspects Miriam Ali Abdalla and Aisha Abdullahi faced potential 20-day detention pending a November 26 decision.
According to APTU, the evidence portfolio includes bank wire records, hotel reservations, cross-border travel documentation, and—critically—cryptocurrency transactions. Additionally, the probe does include several concerns over radicalized groups within Kenya that extend all the way to exporting “new recruits” to ISIS.
Growing Concerns over Crypto Terror Financing Amid High Adoption Rate
Regions with high crypto adoption are often linked to high-profile AML cases, and this particular case might not be so isolated. In a previous article we reported how Operation Catalyst, a joint INTERPOL–AFRIPOL investigation from July to September 2025, led to 83 arrests and over $600,000 in seized assets. The operation lined six countries with Africa’s top crypto hub at the center.
Within Kenya specifically, Operation Catalyst uncovered a virtual-asset laundering operation valued at roughly $430,000 with suspected links to terrorism financing. Funds were traced back to individuals in Tanzania, resulting in multiple cross-border arrests.
Lawyer Chacha Mwita at the court
In another case, two suspects used cryptocurrency trading platforms to funnel money and recruit young people into extremist networks online. Exchange provider Binance assisted investigators in identifying over 160 suspects and facilitating the arrests.
Kenya’s Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2025, a much-needed barrier for governing decentralized assets within the state, stemmed from this very concern.
What Kenya’s Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2025 demands
Cryptocurrency, stablecoins, and fintech organizations are rebuilding the financial system. Kenya, being among Africa’s top three ecosystems, quickly stepped up. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) are responsible for virtual assets under the new Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2025. The Treasury can also make rules that go along with the act.
It sets clear rules to stop misuse while also encouraging a regulated market, just like most crypto laws do. The Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2025 says that companies must:
- Maintain an office in Kenya and employ local directors.
- Separate client assets, follow strict AML/CFT/CPF rules, and put in place cybersecurity measures.
- Have a board made up of at least two real people and choose a CEO who is fit and proper.
- Manage conflicts of interest and act with integrity, transparency, and fairness toward clients.
- Keep comprehensive records for at least seven years; regulators can obtain online, real-time, read-only access to client and firm transaction data.
- File annual audited financial statements within six months of year-end; CEOs must notify authorities of insolvency, major non-compliance, criminal proceedings, or cybersecurity events and then submit a detailed report within seven working days.
Operating without a license can attract penalties up to US$77,400 (KES 10 million) or 10 years’ imprisonment for individuals. For VASPs, fines can reach US$154,000, alongside daily penalties for ongoing violations. The CBK and CMA can also issue warnings, remedial directions, business restrictions (including on new businesses or directors), and administrative fines and pursue investigations.
The crypto compliance requirements for businesses extend to cybersecurity protocols, conflict-of-interest policies, annual audited financial statements, and record-keeping systems that grant regulators real-time, read-only access to transaction data retained for at least seven years.
The crackdown also comes as a rising concern over recent issues within Nigeria. In under one year, the government flagged over $2 million in assets as suspicious transactions and cracked down on multiple money laundering cases with cryptocurrency as a medium.
These arrests are living proof that authorities and regulators are also upgrading their technology, policies, and awareness to combat crypto terror financing. As Andrew Chacha Mwita and Abdisalam Hassan await their December court dates, this might be your chance to clean your act because Kenya’s regulatory watchdogs are tracing each “suspicious” transaction.
