Witness narrates how impostors fleeced Kenyans in Canadian visa scam

Brian Reeves Obare at the Milimani Law Courts dock on January 21,2026 during hearing in a case where more than Sh51 million was lost in a fake Canadian visa scam. [Nancy Gitonga, Standard]

A Nairobi court has heard that over Sh51 million was allegedly paid to a man who posed as a Canadian Embassy official to process visas that never materialised, leaving dozens of travelers stranded, arrested, or turned back during transit.

Testifying before Milimani trial magistrate Paul Mutai, Lidia Nyagala, a former employee of Golden Key Travel Consultants Limited, said the firm engaged the accused, Brian Reeves Obare, between March 2022 and November 2023 to facilitate Canadian visa applications for its clients.

Nyagala told the court that Obare was introduced to the company by one Esnas Mboga, a friend of Nancy Najira.

“Obare presented himself as a counsellor attached to the Canadian Embassy. I first met him at Embassy House in Nairobi, where he claimed to be a consular official,” she said.

Under the arrangement, clients paid Golden Key Travel Consultants, which would then remit the funds to Obare for visa processing.

“The agreed fee per client was Sh450,000, with an initial deposit of Sh124,500. We collected passports and supporting documents from clients including passports, identity cards, birth certificates, marriage certificates, academic papers, digital photographs, police clearance certificates, COVID-19 certificates and yellow fever cards, which were forwarded to the accused together with payments,” Nyagala testified.

She explained that most communication with Obare was through calls and WhatsApp.

“He would later send documents allegedly meant for biometrics before demanding full payment. Upon request, clients’ passports were handed over to him,” Nyagala added.

She told the court that fewer than 50 passports were submitted, but none of the applicants ever successfully travelled to Canada.

The witness said some clients were arrested at airports, others denied boarding, while several were returned to Kenya from Addis Ababa and Dubai during transit.

She added that Obare later demanded an extra Sh50,000 per client, claiming he had contacts at the airport who could facilitate their departure.

“Despite the additional payments, the visas were eventually crossed out and declared invalid,” Nyagala said.

Efforts to verify the matter with the Canadian Embassy initially proved futile.

Subsequent investigations established that Obare had never worked for any embassy and none of the visas issued were valid.

On the financial trail, Nyagala said payments were made to bank accounts and mobile phone numbers provided by the accused.

“The total payments are estimated at about Sh82 million. However, due to missing records, the firm can only account for Sh51.2 million through receipts and transaction documents produced in court. Golden Key refunded about Sh34 million to clients after the fraud was uncovered,” she testified.

The matter was reported to Lang’ata Police Station and later taken over by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, leading to Obare’s arrest after confirmation from the Canadian Embassy that he had no official links to the mission.

During cross-examination, defence lawyers questioned Nyagala’s employment status, the company’s records, the accuracy of the financial figures, and the authenticity of documents produced.

In the case, Obare faces charges of obtaining money by false pretences contrary to Section 313 of the Penal Code, relating to the alleged fraudulent acquisition of Sh51.2 million from Golden Key Travel Consultants.

He also faces another charge of acquisition of proceeds of crime contrary to the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, linked to the purchase of a Land Rover Discovery using the proceed illegal acquired.

Obare further is charges with Personation contrary to Section 382 of the Penal Code for allegedly posing as a Canadian consular official.