I became a con man after losing Sh3 million

 ‘I was torn. I couldn’t believe all the money was gone. But my family couldn’t hear of it. They wanted their money back’

A man from Siaya County has confessed how he became a con man after he lost Sh3million to his friends.

George Odhiambo, 30, narrated to The Nairobian how his friends conned him by promising to double the money he had borrowed from his family.

Speaking to The Nairobian, the Maliera Secondary School alumni says he was introduced to the business by his friend.

“It was after high school. I was only 20 years. I came from a poor family and my friend convinced me I would become an overnight millionaire,” he said, adding, “They told me that for every Sh1,000 I gave them, they could multiply it to Sh3,000, which was such a sweet deal.”

Odhiambo said he went to the village and raised Sh2.9million from his relatives and neighbours.

“It was a dream come true. I even convinced the area chief, Andrew Obwasa, who gave me Sh1million, which was his pension money. My sister gave me Sh35,000 which was her M-pesa float and my grandmother gave me Sh30,000 after she sold her two cows,” he said. 

Odhiambo says after raising the money, they travelled to Nairobi with the gang leaders.

“We booked a hotel along Kiriyanga Road for three days. I gave them the money and they promised to triple it to Sh9million. I was over the moon,” he told The Nairobian.

Little did Odhiambo this was the beginning of his woes.

“They brought a bag full of papers and told me to step on top of it. They then poured iodine solution on top of it and told me that they were going to bring Vitamin C tablet solution or water guard to finish the process and went away with the cash. That is the last day I saw or heard from them,” he said.

Odhiambo sought refuge from a Good Samaritan, who helped him to call his relatives, informing them of his predicament.

 “I was torn. I couldn’t believe all the money was gone. But my family couldn’t hear of it. They demanded their money back. Three days later, I headed to Kisumu where I bumped into one of the guys. He convinced me the only way to recover my money was to join the con game, which I did,” he says.

He says he used to operate in Migori County, Western, Nyanza and Rift Valley, where he enjoyed police protection.

 “I have conned high profile businessmen from Uganda Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan. Students and lectures and even CID officers,” he said.

 Odhiambo revealed that it was while at a Kapenguria in West Pokot County that they were arrested after as they headed to collect money from a Sudanese.

“I was detained at Kapenguria GK Prisons for 258 days and later released after the court found no evidence. While in prison, I used to help detainees by drafting appeal cases for them since I was conversant with the Criminal Procedure Code. I made Sh96, 000 by the time I was leaving prisons,” he said.

He reveals that he is now a changed man and all he wants is his family to forgive him.

“I have been a con man. I now want a second chance and as for forgiveness. The people who introduced me to the business were shot dead two years ago in Kisumu and only one is alive,” Odhiambo said, adding that his family has shunned him. 

“I built an SDA church in Vihiga County single-handedly, but church elders dismissed me and even expelled me,” he concluded.