A combined team of DCI officers drawn from the Nairobi region and DCI Gigiri have arrested four fake gold merchants at Runda estate and recovered fake gold bars weighing approximately 9.5 kilograms and assorted items that the suspects have been using in their illicit trade.
The arrest of the four snake oil merchants follows a report from a foreign national who had earlier been defrauded USD 200,000 in a phony gold scheme.
Upon receipt of the information, the detectives proceeded to a targeted dwelling house located within plot number 685 along Glory valley lane where they managed to arrest Felix Odhiambo Otieno, Derrick Odhiambo Omore, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed and Moses Odhiambo Auma as scores of other suspects managed to escape the detectives’ snare.
Upon search of the house, several recoveries that include fake gold bars, a weighing machine, a plastic briefcase containing an electronic gold tester machine (tester gun), assorted documents among other items were made.
Subsequently, the scene was processed by CSI detectives, exhibits secured and suspects kept in custody pending processing and arraignment.
Cases where foreigners are conned of money in the fake gold deals have been in the rise. Police have been urging the foreigners to always seek help from their embassies or ministry of mining over the deals.
Dozens of suspects have been arrested in an operation launched.
“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.
It has extended similar caution to Kenyans trading in the commodity to conduct proper due diligence and ascertain that the people they are dealing with are not fraudsters.
“The gold scam has now reached alarming levels as unsuspecting foreign nationals are being swindled large amounts of money by fraudsters.”
Last month, at least 11 suspects were arrested after they had defrauded a foreign national of Sh68 million in a fake gold deal in Nairobi’s Spring Valley area.
The suspects were found in a house in the area on Tuesday April 29, 2025 evening in a police raid.
Several kilos of fake gold bars were seized from the house the group has been operating from.
Nairobi police boss George Sedah said the victim had complained to them that he was scammed of US546,000 by the group which pretended to have more than 100 kilos of the gold.
After several trips to the house for the gold, the foreigner realized he had been conned.
He then reported the matter prompting a police raid.
Upon arrival, police said several suspects were found in different rooms and arrested.
They included Allan Zephaniah Onyango (Kenyan), Nicodemus Okoth (Kenyan), Nfundiko Kamira (Congolese), Phillip Onyango (Kenyan) and Elmad Ochola (Kenyan).
The others are Shem Omollo (Kenyan), Lukabaya Mulamba (Congolese), Ibrahim Nzamgou (Cameroonian), Mike Fouapon (Cameroonian), Innocent Yinga (Ugandan) and James Jeremiah Akumu (Kenyan).
Police said they found a weighing machine, an electronic gold tester (Tester Gun), assorted ministry of mining documents, dust coat with the ministry of mining logo, an unidentified liquid in a small plastic container, assorted seals and assorted empty metallic boxes.
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