Suspect arrested in Sh36.1 million fake gold deal

Another suspected Gold scammer has been arrested for conning a Canadian national USD 280,000 (Sh36.1 million) in a fake deal.

The arrest of Abbas Bardu Omuyoma aka Ishmael came on the heels of a recent warning by Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to foreigners to be wary of gold fraudsters.

Bardu’s arrest followed a complaint by the Canadian that the suspect alongside an accomplice who remains at large, had claimed to be in a position to sell him 550 kilogrammes of Gold nuggets and bars sourced from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Believing he was entering into a legitimate business deal, Canadian transferred USD 280,000 via USDT (Tether stablecoin cryptocurrency) only to discover he had been conned – no gold was ever delivered as initially promised.

The victim launched a formal complaint in September at Nairobi’s DCI regional office. Detectives launched investigations, arresting Bardu along Dennis Pritt Road.

The DCI  has been receiving several complaints from foreigners who fall prey to the Gold scammers.

Since January, DCI has handled similar cases with complaints totaling $2,539,500 (Sh328 million). Last year detectives put the figure of the complaints at $13,123,000 (Sh1.7 billion), while the amount stood at $21,695,000 (Sh2.9 billion) in 2023.

The scammers, mostly Kenyans working in cohorts with accomplices from Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Cameroon, have established international links in Dubai, Turkey, Ireland, US, Canada, South Africa, Liberia, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Philippines, Malaysia, and Togo, among other countries.

According to DCI Director Mohamed Amin, the fraud involves several players.

“As a security agency, we’re concerned and have really done well to stop the fraudsters. We have been able to downgrade their activities locally, and in fact some of them have migrated to other countries following enhanced surveillance here,” Amin told The Standard recently.

He expressed concern that their efforts are sometimes frustrated by the fraudsters and victims who conspire to defeat justice.

“We’ve had instances when victims, despite being conned millions, side with the criminals while others refuse to co-operate and testify in court,” said the DCI boss.