Kenyan man arrested for defrauding foreigner in Sh33 million fake gold scheme

A Kenyan man has been apprehended after allegedly defrauding a foreign national of $256,000 (Sh33 million) in a sophisticated fake gold sale scam.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) revealed details of the scam, which involved two deceptive transactions that left the victim with nothing but counterfeit gold.

The first deal struck on February 6, involved the supposed purchase of 500kg of gold at $40,000 per kilo. However, the seller failed to deliver, citing unmet conditions from the buyer. Despite this red flag, the victim proceeded with a second deal on March 14 for 580kg of gold, requiring additional payments for jet chartering, taxes, and insurance.

To gain the buyer’s trust, the scammer provided 20 kg of purported gold locked in a safe box as collateral. Unfortunately, this too proved to be a ruse, as the seller once again failed to deliver the agreed-upon gold.

The victim, unaware of the ongoing deception, made payments of $126,000 and $139,000 through two local law firms. The scammer then demanded an additional $188,080, prompting the buyer to alert authorities.

DCI investigators, upon examining the 20kg of "gold", discovered it was a mix of copper, zinc, and tin.

The Ministry of Mining neither registered nor licensed the company involved in the fraudulent scheme to deal in gold or other precious metals, according to further investigations.

Using this evidence, detectives located the suspect and arrested him on Saturday, December 7. He is now awaiting arraignment.

The DCI urged individuals dealing in precious metals to verify the legitimacy of sellers and companies with relevant government agencies.