Three politicians, a journalist, a bank and several members of a syndicate are under probe after a Brazilian national was conned Sh9 billion in what is promising to be the biggest gold scam ever attempted by Kenyan fraudsters in history.
Although the fraud is yet to blow to the public we understand that the businessman who was scammed is piling pressure for his money to be returned or he will sink everyone who is involved and it will be messy.
We understand that this is part of the reason why the Sh109 million scam involving Judiciary Registrar Anne Amadi was publicised yet it took place in 2021. The idea is to muddy the waters in case Sh11 billion scam blows because powerful politicians are involved.
It is also the reason why it was claimed gold worth Sh15 billion went missing from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in March. We understand that this claim too was just meant to preempt the impending scandal. JKIA is a category 1 airport with very high security and it is impossible for two tonnes of gold to disappear like that and no one is yet to be arrested to date.
Interestingly, the gang is said to be the same one that stole Sh400 million from the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2019. It had gone under the radar following the heist four years ago that caused a diplomatic tiff between Kenya and Dubai.
The Sheikh however never pressed charges against the gang after retired President Uhuru Kenyatta personally intervened with Dubai about the matter. What followed however was a heavy crackdown on gold fraudsters by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) that led to dozens of arrests.
Among those arrested during the crackdown were Jared Otieno, Elvis Muga, Kevin Obia, Philip Aroko, Samir Munyinyi, Steve Oduk who were at that time occupied the top of the gold fraud food chain in Kenya.
Curiously, none of the members of the gang that stole Sh400 million from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Makhtoum was ever questioned or arrested over the saga. They went underground for three years only to regroup for carrying out this major heist.
Members of the gang involved in the Sh11 billion scam are two first-time Mps, a former senator, a senior news anchor working for one of the three largest TV stations and two well-known gold fraudsters from Nairobi.
A bank which handled the transaction is also in trouble for receiving fraudulent cash which was initially supposed to be wired from the Democratic Republic of Congo but officials at Equity Bank declined the offer.
The gang lied to the Brazilian national that they were in a position to sell to him 300 kilos of gold at 11 billion shillings. The gold was supposed to be sourced from Congo, brought to Nairobi before being shipped to Dubai.
The businessman has already paid Sh9 billion for the gold in Euros. In one transaction which we have seen, a bank in Kenya received 44 million Euros last month on behalf of the fraudsters who have withdrawn most of it in cash and wired the rest to banks overseas.
Sensing he has been conned, the businessman has demanded for a refund of his money or else he will blow the scandal and the consequences will be major.
