Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations have arrested a key suspect linked to a fraudulent gold syndicate that swindled a foreign investor out of $265,200 (Sh34 million), as a manhunt continues for two suspected accomplices.
The suspect was apprehended by officers from the elite Operation Support Unit (OSU). His arrest marks a major breakthrough in a case that has been under active investigation since 2024.
"The fraud involved fake gold purchase contracts totalling over 1,080 kilograms, with false promises of secure delivery, guaranteed collateral, and fraudulent legal facilitation," the DCI said.
The arrest follows the earlier capture and arraignment of another suspect on December 7, 2024, who was charged in relation to the same scandal.
The victim was lured with assurances of secure delivery and guaranteed collateral for the precious metal.
Subsequent analysis revealed that the supposed gold was, in fact, a mixture of copper, zinc, and tin, with no trace of any precious metal.
The suspect is in custody undergoing police processing ahead of arraignment.
Meanwhile, detectives say they are closing in on two more individuals believed to be part of the same criminal network.
The arrest is the latest development in a series of fake gold trades in the country since the start of the year.
In early January, detectives arrested and charged 14 suspects in connection with a $1.35 million (Sh174 million) gold scheme targeting an American investor.
The arrest came after weeks of surveillance and a relentless hunt for the operational base of the fake gold ring, before forensic-led intelligence led to the arrest of the suspects along Chalbi Drive in the Lavington area of Nairobi.
On February 25, detectives from the Kenya Airport Police Unit arraigned another suspect at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The suspect was implicated in a fake gold trade that defrauded two businessmen — a Romanian and a Swiss — of $120,000 (Sh15.5 million).
In April, DCI detectives arrested another 11 people in connection with a fake gold fraud in which a buyer was conned out of at least Sh70 million.
The suspects were arrested at the Spring Valley estate in Nairobi, and a haul of fake gold weighing 305kg, along with a weighing machine and an electronic gold tester was seized.
On May 8, police said they arrested another four suspects following a raid on a Runda home in connection with the theft of Sh25 million from a foreigner whom they allegedly duped using fake gold.
