Detectives from the Operations Support Unit (OSU) arrested one David Onyango Ochanda, a man long on the police radar for orchestrating a sophisticated gold scam that fleeced an American investor of USD 225,968.64 (Sh25 million).
The elaborate scheme dates back to April 3, 2024, when the unsuspecting investor jetted into the country to finalise a deal involving the purchase of 3,370 kilograms of gold.
Upon arrival, he was ushered into an office on Chalbi Drive in Lavington, Nairobi, where he signed a Sales and Purchase Agreement.
The investor even witnessed a smelting process at the seller’s agent’s office, an act meant to reinforce the illusion of legitimacy.
On April 25, 2024, the agent introduced the investor to Toureg Insurance Brokers Limited, allegedly tasked with insuring the gold during transit, whose contact person was David Onyango Ochanda.
An addendum to the original agreement was signed to include insurance charges, and an invoice was issued for USD 226,012.76.
Four days later, the invstor wired USD225,968.64 to the company’s bank account. The gold, however, never arrived.
Friday, detectives executed a coordinated operation that led to the arrest of Ochanda, director of Toureg Insurance Brokers Limited and signatory to the account that received the funds.
Ochanda is currently in custody and undergoing processing, with arraignment scheduled for Monday, August 18, 2025.
This is the latest such an arrest to take place amid operations on gold scammers in the country.
Police say most of the suspects behind the incidents have been arrested and arraigned and their cases remain active in courts. The operations have been mounted in the past years after many foreigners complained they had been scammed in the city.
Nairobi was increasingly turning to be the hub for fake gold deals, which prompted the operations.
Police say they have dozens of cases of complaints from foreigners who say they had been conned by Kenyans pretending to be selling gold.
In efforts to address such incidents, the DCI had asked embassies in the country to join the fight against the vice by urging them to advise their nationals engaged in trade to follow procedures. “We urge the Embassies (High Commissions) to advise their nationals coming in for business to be apprised of con business of gold going on in the country and first contact the Department of Mines and Geology for the procedure that pertains to buying and selling of gold and other precious metals,” the DCI said.
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