Chinese national who paid Ksh.151M for tantalum minerals from Kenya receives soil

Detectives have intercepted two containers in Mombasa declared as tantalum minerals from Congo that were to be shipped to China.

The so-called minerals had already been paid for in the hundreds of millions with the new owners unaware it was a scam.

Initial investigations have linked the incident to fake gold scammers who used to operate in Nairobi’s Kilimani area using Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

They are suspected of having shifted operations to Mombasa and colluding with officials of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

 A Chinese businessman is said to have deposited Ksh.151 million, only for one container to land in China loaded with soil instead of the said minerals.

This initiated a long chase, leading detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to intercept the consignment at the Mombasa container terminal (MCT).

The DCI officers believe the two containers were just about to be shipped to China  as well.

After a long struggle, the containers were opened, and inside were reconditioned metallic drums which were loaded with sand as tantalum minerals.

At the centre of investigations is a suspect by the name Lumumba Patrick who is said to be collaborating with fake gold scammers in Congo and Uganda.

The multi-agency team has taken samples of the soil for further investigations.