In the latest fake gold syndicate, Detectives from the Special Service Unit have arrested four suspects in Kasarani, Nairobi County for obtaining Sh29 million from an unsuspecting client on the pretext that they would sell him gold.
“On diverse dates from 1st April 2019 to 28 Feb 2020 the four approached a foreign national pretending to be DCI officers on a mission to sell him gold on behalf of an alleged senior DCI Officer,” A statement from the DCI reads.
The four suspects, Eric Otieno, Antony Achieng, George Kinuthia Mbugua and Arthur Caleb Otieno are said to have continued demanding for more money from the same victim up to the time of their arrest.
The arrest comes just a few weeks after the shooting death of 28-year-old Kevin Omwenga over a similar gold deal gone south.
It is not a new trend, with recent fake gold scandals seeing the high and mighty in the Kenyan political scene dragged into the syndicate from time to time.
In 2018, DP Ruto was at the centre of a furious diplomatic row with the DRC who suspected his chopper was used to smuggle up to 5 tonnes of expensive solid gold out of Congo and into Kenya. The gold was reportedly worth a staggering $138 million (Sh14 billion).
In 2019, the royal family in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) filed a complaint against top officials in Kenya. the family said they had been defrauded of millions in dollars.
The four are being detained and will be arraigned in Court on Monday.
