NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 15 –They simply never learn!
An Indian investor has lost Sh200 million to fake gold dealers who packed stones for him and asked him to wait for his consignment.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has identified the businessman as Malian Sanjay who wired money to a serial fraudster from Guinea Bissau, identified as Cavalho Lopes.
“The fraudster who styles himself as a gold dealer obtained $1,780,000 from one Malian Sanjay, based in Mumbai, India on the pretext that he would sell him 44.45 Kgs worth of gold. According to investigations by Serious Crimes detectives based at DCI headquarters,” the DCI said in a statement.
Investigations show that the gold was to be shipped from Guinea Bissau through Kigali before being loaded onto a plane to India via Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
And once the complainant received confirmation from Lopes, that the shipment was on transit to Nairobi, he was contacted by a person purporting to be from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) a few days later to squeeze some more dollars from him.
The caller, according to investigators, identified as Hezbon Nyabola informed him that his consignment, Airway Bill No706-27720626 had been detained at JKIA for non payment of customs duty.
“As a result, Sanjay sent him, a further $26,700 to clear the consignment and facilitate its shipment. All along, the investor had not realized that he had been scammed until the gold failed to arrive in India within the agreed upon time,” the detectives said.
That is when the Indian investor became suspicious and reported the matter.
“He sought the assistance of our detectives, who immediately moved in and recovered the consignment at JKIA,” the DCI said.
Upon inspection, what was supposed to be gold worth over Sh190 million was discovered to be river bed pebbles, neatly arranged in a box!
The DCI has now arrested Hezbon Nyabola, the man who placed the call to the Indian investor purporting to be a Customs official.
This man identified as Hezbon Nyabola was arrested on September 15, 2021 for allegedly conning an Indian investor USD26,700 while purporting to be a Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) official. The Indian had already lost Sh200 million to conmen.
“He will be arraigned in court, for obtaining money by false pretences,” the DCI said.
Kenya has been at the centre of gold scams, with foreigners often losing money to conmen, including Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Al-Makhtoum.
Such cases are often taken to court after arrests of suspects but no successful conviction has been recorded with reports that the suspects buy their freedom by manipulating the evidence or the entire case.
