A businessman suspected of defrauding a Dubai royal by pretending they could sell him gold will be detained for three days.
Milimani Senior resident magistrate Edna Mayova ordered Yulian Stankov, who is believed to be a Bulgarian, to be remanded at Gigiri police station to enable detectives complete investigations into the fake gold sale.
His co-suspect, Mohammed Rashi, was, however, granted a Sh50,000 cash bail.
In an affidavit, detective sergeant Stanley Musembi told the court that the two suspects were arrested on Thursday at Lavington Mall on suspicion of obtaining money by false pretenses.
The officer said they found the suspects with proforma invoices belonging to Air Cargo limited. The amount involved was not mentioned,
Police say Stankov does not have identification documents and his presence in the Country is questionable. Detectives also want to have their phones taken to the Cybercrime Unit for forensic examination.
DCI George Kinoti has issued a warning, saying foreign businessmen trading in gold will have to be subjected to compulsory scrutiny by government agencies before being allowed to continue with their activities.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the DCI said that the country has experienced rampant cases where con artists defraud unsuspecting individuals by selling them fake gold.
“DCI attention has been drawn to an upsurge in criminal cases involving the procurement and sale of gold the country. The Gold Scam has now reached alarming levels as unsuspecting foreign nationals are being swindled large amounts of money by the fraudsters,”
DCI intends to use diplomatic missions in the crackdown by urging them to advise their nationals engaged in trade to follow procedures.
"We urge the Embassies/High Commissions to advise their nationals coming in for business to be apprised of #Con business of gold going on in the country & first contact the Dep’t of Mines & Geology for procedure that pertains to buying &selling of Gold & other Precious metals," DCI tweeted.
