Detectives in Nairobi believe they have dismantled a notorious gold-scamming syndicate that has been defrauding unsuspecting victims out of their millions of money.
The sleuths, drawn from the Nairobi Regional Criminal Investigations Office, have arrested 11 suspects believed to be members of the syndicate, and seizing 350 kilograms of counterfeit gold in the process.
The arrest follows a report received from a victim who had been defrauded of USD 546,000 (approximately KSh70.9 million) in a fraudulent gold scheme.
Acting on credible intelligence, the detectives trailed the suspects to their hideout in the Spring Valley estate, where they executed a swift arrest.
Upon search, detectives recovered a haul of fake gold weighing 305kg, along with a weighing machine and an electronic gold tester, commonly known as a Tester Gun.
Also recovered were assorted documents and a dust coat bearing the Ministry of Mining logo, which the suspects are believed to be using to gain the trust of unsuspecting individuals while executing their fraudulent schemes.
The suspects, in what the DCI describes as a “multi-national mix of con artists”, have been identified as; seven Kenyans—Allan Zephaniah Onyango, Nicodemus Okoth, Phillip Onyango, Elmad Ochola, Shem Omollo, Edward Leonard Ochieng, and James Jeremiah Akumu, along with two Congolese nationals, Nfundiko Kamira and Lukabaya Mulamba, and two Cameroonian citizens, Ibrahim Nzamgou and Mike Fouapon.
They are currently in custody at the Capitol Hill Police Station.
