A criminal case where a Congolese national is accused of defrauding a Ukrainian businessman of Sh105 million in a fake gold syndicate failed to proceed for lack of witnesses.
The case had been scheduled for hearing before Milimani chief magistrate Susan Shitubi but it could not proceed since the prosecution was not ready with witnesses.
Andre Kongolo Tshikunga, a Congolese national has since denied obtaining $1,059,000 fraudulently from Kovalenko Hennadii, a Ukrainian national.
According to the prosecution, the offence allegedly took place between January and November 2018 at Afrisolutions Company Ltd on Kaptei Road, Kileleshwa, in Nairobi county.
It is said that Kongolo pretended that he was in a position to sell a consignment of gold to Hennadii.
The accused person was charged seven days after Hennadii identified him as the man who allegedly conned him.
He had been in hiding for four years before he was arrested and detained on January 6, 2021.
Earlier the court was told that the accused was a flight risk as he had been on the run from justice since 2018.
Hennadii flew to Kenya to positively identify the suspect before he was formally charged.
The court also had been told that the accused has other pending cases in different courts.
But defence lawyer Stanley Kang’ahi had opposed the prosecution application, saying the accused is a naturalised Kenyan national.
He said the suspect is married to a Kenyan citizen and has children who attend schools in Nairobi.
"Congolo is a Kenyan and not a flight risk as observed by the prosecutor,” lawyer Kang'ahi said.
The magistrate had earlier declined to allow the prosecution's application but instead ordered Kongolo to be released on a bond of Sh50 million without cash bail.
