At least 31 suspects linked to a fake gold scam
syndicate were arrested Tuesday in a crackdown by detectives in Runda,
Ridgeways and Industrial Area parts of Nairobi.
During the operation, the team from the Directorate
of Criminal Investigation seized key evidence, including counterfeit gold,
spray paint, and padlocks used to create the fake gold.
The arrests followed an incident in which two foreign nationals were duped into purchasing 35 kilograms of fake gold, losing over Sh5 million in the process.
Police said some of the suspects are known
repeat offenders who face multiple fraud charges in court and are expected to
face additional charges related to this latest scam on Wednesday.
Investigators at the Operations Support Unit said that the foreigners, who were lured to Kenya on September 4, 2024, by the scammers, were convinced to purchase 35 kilograms of gold through three separate transactions.
However, after making the payments, they were
taken on a wild goose chase, and the gold was never delivered.
The suspects’ office is decorated with what
appears to be gold-adorned walls, a beverage jar that looks golden, and even
flags, a Kenyan flag and an East African community flag adding to the veneer of
legitimacy to the scam.
Among the exhibits recovered was a Subaru
vehicle, complete with a siren, reportedly used to escort unsuspecting clients
from the airport, only for them to later become victims of the scam.
Also seized were crucial tools such as spray
paint and padlocks used to create the fake gold.
The suspects, all known repeat offenders with
ongoing fraud cases in court, are said to have powerful connections within
government circles, which have reportedly shielded them from past actions,
officials said.
Masquerading as genuine dealers in the precious
metal, the suspects had on diverse dates in September 2024 paraded coated off-base metals to hoodwink and lure the two foreigners into a business deal,
thereafter holing up with thousands of dollars.
After making several trips to the country and
into the opulent offices in which the scammers operated, the victims grew
suspicious of the excuses made on why the 35kg of gold they had bought was not
being exported to Dubai as agreed, thereby reporting the suspected fraud at
DCI.
Meanwhile, interrogation on the suspects has
since revealed some notorious faces in the illegal business as the masterminds
of the scheme, including the suspected leader of the syndicate, a serial who
has two similar active cases in court.
In one of the cases that is coming up for
mention tomorrow at Milimani Law Courts, the suspect who has political
ambitions is charged with conspiracy to defraud c/sec 317 of the penal code.
His second case graduated into a robbery with violence charge after their to-be victims of a gold scam (an Australian man and his Ugandan wife) were attacked, robbed and sexually assaulted by his team.
They will be arraigned on Wednesday to face charges of fraud.
Police have been warning foreigners against being lured and duped by scammers in the business.
The authorities
want those in need of gold to liaise with their embassies and the police or
Ministry of Mining.
