Three individuals were arrested after they scammed two foreign nationals of Sh340 million in a fake gold scam deal.
The scam started in June, 2022 when Mr Marco Colombo Conti, a business associate of Mr Satbinder Singh, travelled to Kenya with the intention of buying 100 kilograms of gold from Mr Allain Mwadia Nvita.
For a start, Mr Marco paid about USD400,000 in duty and other charges through a law firm in the name of Squire AfriLaw Consult Limited.
In return for footing the charges on behalf of the seller, he was given 12 kilograms of gold which the seller said he was free to carry out as hand luggage and sell to recover the funds he had paid and any other fees that would be required in the course of the transaction.
This however did not happen since when he was just about to leave, the seller informed him that he could not leave with the same 12 kilograms of gold since it was part of the bigger consignment he was purchasing from him, making a total weight of 112 kilograms.
Police investigators say he then advised him that he could keep the same safely in a safe box at Mysafe Vaults at the Village Market in Gigiri, Nairobi which he accepted.
Convinced that the gold deal was still viable, he left Kenya and returned on February 5, 2024 in the company of Mr Satbinder Singh who was interested in buying the Gold in question.
On arrival, Satbinder was introduced to Allain Mwadia Nvita who was the gold seller, Lehman John Raymond, Daniel Ogot of Patvad Trading Co. Ltd and Frank Kateti, a Tanzanian agent.
The team proceeded to discuss with the seller the possibility of buying the 112 kilogram consignment whereby the seller, Allain Mwadia, convinced them that he was willing to provide 31 kilograms of gold to be carried by them out of the country and this would cover for the money that Marco had paid in the year 2022 and also for the expenses that Satbinder would further incur in the process of shipping out the 112 kilograms after the same was bought by Satbinder.
According to investigators, on the same day of February 5, 2024, Daniel Ogot invoiced Satbinder’s company-Asianic Limited an amount of 162,240 Euros and 548,830 Euros respectively and instructed that these amounts be paid into an escrow account held at Stanbic Bank in the name of Mosota Abunga & Associates Advocates, LLP.
On February 7, 2024, the same agent again Invoiced Asianic Limited a further 14,112 Euros being freight charges for the 112 kilograms of gold consignment.
All these payments were made on February 8, 2024 after their private agent Frank Kateti advised that everything was okay and the 31 kilograms of gold were deposited into Mysafe Vaults at Village market.
On February 9, 2024, the foeign nationals collected 31 kilograms of gold from Mysafe Vaults at the Village Market and proceeded to the Clearing Agent (Daniel Ogot) office where the box was opened and the consignment divided into two and packed into blue metallic boxes that were sealed, signed and stamped.
As they left for JKIA, Daniel Ogot and Frank Kateti promised to bring with them the consignment and the necessary documents to the Airport but they failed to honor their part of the bargain.
With no option left, the foreigners flew out and while in Italy, Daniel Ogot informed them that an error in declaring the weight of the consignment had led to confiscation by the Customs department and in addition, their license had also been suspended.
Further, Ogot explained that the Customs department had imposed on his company a fine equivalent to 20 percent of the value of the consignment amounting to USD1,562,000, which if not paid, then the entire consignment was at the risk of being confiscated.
Satbinder flew to Kenya and paid out 1,438,460 Euros through the escrow bank account in the names Mosota Abunga & Associates Advocates, LLP hoping to rescue the said gold but he knew not that he was still being defrauded.
He was then taken to Forodha house within JKIA where he met a lady namely Susan Oketch who he was informed was working with the customs department who not only confirmed to him that the fine was authentic but also supplied him with some of the ownership documentation.
Satbinder travelled back to the UK on March 20, 2024 and the scammers continued to take him into circles to a point of even sending him fake airway bills showing that the consignment would be delivered to him in Ireland.
Later he became suspicious that the deal would not materialize which prompted him to write to Commissioner General Kenya Revenue Authority to establish the authenticity of the documents provided.
The matter was referred to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and upon undertaking in-depth investigations, it was established that all the documents provided to the complainant were forged, the persons who were presented as customs officials were not KRA employees, Patvad Trading Limited was not licensed by the Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs to trade in any minerals, the airline company confirmed that the airway bills did not originate from them and that cumulatively, the complainant had been defrauded a total of 2,168,258.91 Euros equivalent to Sh341,949,292.
The three suspects were arraigned as file on investigations into the conduct of the advocate for breach of the terms of their letter of engagement for legal services and escrow account management has been forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for perusal and advice.
This is the latest such case involving Kenyans and foreigners who are conned over fake gold scams.
Cases where foreigners are being conned or money over fake gold on sale are on the rise.
Police have been asking foreigners seeking to purchase gold in the country to always seek the help of their respective embassies.
Police say they have arrested dozens involved in the cases and charged them in courts.
