- The DCI said in a statement the duo was preparing to scam their victim of more cash when the officers from the DCI Operations Support Unit pounced on them.
- The Swiss national was reportedly in pursuit of proceeds from his ailing father's property which he sold some 20 years ago in Ghana.
Image: The Star
Detectives have arrested a Kenyan and German national for allegedly swindling a Swiss national more than Sh52 million at a hotel in Parklands, Nairobi.
The DCI said in a statement that the duo was preparing to scam their victim of more cash when the officers from the DCI Operations Support Unit pounced.
According to the DCI, the story begins years back in 2020 or thereabout.
“The victim fell into the hands of the two scammers after he was informed by his ailing father, who had worked in Ghana, that about twenty years ago, he acquired some property in Ghana, which he later sold and left the proceeds under the custody of a trustee in Ghana.”
Armed with this information, the DCI said the Swiss national went in pursuit of the treasure and connected with a Ghanaian lady to act as his translator during the transaction and proceeded to contact and meet her in 2020.
The lady reportedly claimed that he was familiar with the man’s earlier transactions and confirmed to him that the proceeds of the sale of the property were to the tune of $62.8 million (Sh8.1bn), but the same needed a special purpose company for ease of transfer.
“The Swiss national was tricked into registering a company that was to be used to transfer the money to his home country,” the DCI said.
“But not before paying taxes and facilitation money to the scammers in Ghana, Dubai, Tanzania, Uganda and later Kenya.”
While in Kenya, the Swiss national was reportedly introduced to the German national (now in custody), who later enjoined the services of the Kenyan suspect.
The Kenyan, according to the DCI, claimed to own a security company that was hired to transport and store the cargo, which was allegedly inspected and stored in a Nairobi airport.
The Swiss national would later be denied access to the containers, forcing him to part with approximately $400,000 (Sh51.6m) to the suspects in facilitation fees, the DCI said.
“After spending a fortune, he realised that he had been scammed, so he filed a complaint at the Kenyan Mission in Switzerland,” DCI said.
The matter was referred to the DCI through the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, where the investigations leading to the arrest of the scammers were commenced.
“The Directorate of Criminal Investigations sends a strong warning to anyone whose mission is to reap where they have not sown, that their days are numbered,” DCI said.