Two men have been charged in a Nairobi court on suspicion of conspiring to steal Sh100 million in a phony gold deal from a foreign investor.
Inspector of police Alexander Makomah stated that he requires 14 days to investigate Nicholas Ndolo and Thomas Otieno Ngoe in a case of Conspiracy to Commit a Crime Contrary to Section 393 of the Criminal Code in a miscellaneous application submitted before a Kibera court.
The policeman said that the suspects were detained on March 14 after being accused of committing the crime. According to him, Ndolo was introduced to the complainant as a businessman engaged in the gold trade by Charles Mwaniki, senior principal magistrate.
Following formal introductions, they decided that the complainant would spend USD 123,000,000 to buy 3000kg of gold at a price of USD 41,000 per kg (Sh12 billion).
The complainant account name, Africorp Consultants Limited, and the transaction account for the company were both given Equity Bank Accounts by Ndolo, the court was informed. The officer informed the court that “the complainant later asked his bank in the U.S.A. to wire the sum of USD 1,000,000 by way of a rapid bank transfer into the account Ndolo supplied” on February 10.
Ndolo acknowledged receiving the funds and promised to get in touch with the complainant to arrange for them to see the gold being packaged in preparation for transport to Dubai.
According to the officer, the complainant requested proof of the purchase of the aforementioned gold after waiting in vain for an appointment to see the packaging. Afterwards, the complaint discovered that some of the documents weren’t authentic, including the customs entry listed on the March 8 declaration form.
According to reports, Ndolo initially tried to avoid speaking with the complainant before threatening to expel him from Kenya. The complainant informed the DCI Operational Support team about this as a result.
Investigations at the Equity Bank where the funds were transmitted revealed that Ngoe runs the institution and that the entire sum had been moved to other accounts. After Ngoe was detained, the car they were driving was searched quickly, and a gun was found there. Further forensic examination will be performed on the discovered firearm to see whether it was used to conduct crimes and to determine how Ngoe obtained it.
The officer added that Ndolo turned himself in at DCI Headquarters after learning that he was wanted and was then detained for questioning in order to prove his lack of involvement in the purported gold enterprise.
The investigating officer stated that more work needs to be done. “Investigations into the matter are not yet complete, and the applicant through its investigators intends to; recover the money defrauded from the complainant, recover documents that the respondents used as instruments in committing crimes and subject them to necessary forensic analysis, record statements, and subject the recovered firearm to forensic analysis,” he said.
The police aim to detain additional suspects, and the court has been warned that releasing the respondents will obstruct their detention.