NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 12 – Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have recovered Sh19 million in fake US dollars in an operation to crack a fake diamond syndicate.
An undercover operation by Crime Research Bureau (CRIB) and Serious Crime detectives, led to the recovery of the fake currency concealed in a briefcase as the detectives were effecting the arrest of a couple believed to have swindled a city-based management consultant over Sh11 million in a dubious diamond deal.
The DCI said Friday that the victim reported the incident upon realizing she had been defrauded of her hard-earned cash.
“In an unbelievable chronology of events, the woman was tricked into investing in the dubious trade by one engineer Irungu, who introduced himself as her former trainee,” the DCI said.
“Irungu introduced her to an alleged Botswana national named Peter Malobe, who required a feasibility study prior to investing in middle-income housing. The said Motswana, also turned out to be an established dealer in the export of diamonds to an Australian based company, known as BHP,” the agency stated.
DCI said the victim was tricked into parting with huge sums of money for license acquisition from the Ministry of Mining, customs and clearance fees for the diamonds, penalties, stamps and transfer fees among other charges.
The DCI added that every time she demanded for payment more requests kept coming from the fraudsters.
“By the time she realized that she was a victim of shenanigans, from the usual ‘Kanairo’ scammers who have sent many back to the village, she had lost a total of Sh11 million. Serious Crimes and CRIB detectives managed to arrest a couple, in whose accounts the funds were channeled,” the agency said.
The suspects are now facing charges of obtaining money by false pretenses.
Cases of Kenyans falling victim to get-rich-quick schemes have been on the rise in the recent years. Most victims have been left languishing in debts while others have been forced to close their businesses.
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