NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 8 – A Nairobi lawyer has been arrested by Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives for his role in a Sh79 million fake gold scheme targeting a Canadian investor.
According to the investigative agency, the Operations Support Unit (OSU) arrested Michael Owano for his role in a high-stakes scam that defrauded a Canadian investor of USD 618,000.
The report pointed out that “the victim was lured into a fake gold export deal involving 250 kilograms of gold, allegedly set for shipment to Dubai aboard a private jet.”
“On April 15, 2025, a Proforma Invoice of USD 318,400 was issued by EAI Logistics, with the funds wired to Owano’s law firm account. He was later asked to send an additional USDT 300,000 to a cryptocurrency wallet, but no gold was ever delivered,” the report stated.
Owano’s arrest follows the earlier arrest of a Cameroonian Francis Ouafo, also known as Allain, believed to be the mastermind of the syndicate.
He was arraigned on July 31, 2025, at the Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court.
In a separate but similarly orchestrated scam, a Congolese Lupemba Lorenzi Olivier appeared at the Milimani Law Courts in connection with a fraudulent gold deal targeting a Gabonese investor.
Detectives secured a seven-day custodial order to finalise investigations.
The matter is scheduled for mention on Wednesday next week.
Meanwhile, another suspect, Kelvin Onyango, alias Kevo Sonko, the alleged director of SwiftTaxis Logistics Ltd, was arrested for his role in the same case.
The complainant was led to his office, where they negotiated and formalised the gold deal.
All the suspects are currently in custody, undergoing processing pending their arraignment in court, as DCI intensifies efforts to dismantle the networks behind these sophisticated gold scams.
