The fate of 10 individuals linked to Sh67 million gold scam is now in the hands of the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji.
This comes after the suspects who appeared before Milimani senior principal magistrate Esther Kimilu but did not plead to charges as their file has been forwarded to the DPP’s office for consideration before deciding whether or not to charge them.
Senior state prosecutor applied to have the plea deferred to enable the DPP to review the case. Kimilu ordered that the case be mentioned on March 6 for the prosecution to confirm the next steps.
She also extended the accused person's previous cash bail of Sh100,000 each until further orders are issued.
The suspects include eight Kenyans, one Greek and one Indian nationals.
They are Samuel Wathika Gathuru, Moses Otieno Oketch, Patroba Odhiambo Tobias, Elisha Mbadi Kimbero, Teddy Samora Kowino, Ioannis Kaisarios, Mugabe Patrick Biriko, Seth Steve Okute, Bruno Otieno Oliende and Collins Kiprotich Langat.
According to the prosecution the suspects were nabbed following a report made by the victim, who has been identified as Ms Marjorie Grant, an American-based investor living in Los Angeles, California.
Okute was the first one to be nabbed before the detectives also went to Otieno’s home in Nairobi. Okute was in possession of a Baretta Pistol loaded with 13 rounds.
At this home, the sleuths found heavy metallic boxes, suspected to be used to store crucial information that is currently assisting the officers in the investigations.
They are believed to have defrauded two American nationals in the gold fraud deal that went wrong.
“Detectives have recovered two firearms and over 470 rounds of ammunition of 9mm and 5.56 mm calibre, after arresting 10 suspects believed to have defrauded $534,000 (Sh67.3 million) from two American citizens,” a statement by the DCI read.
