Congolese suspect in Ksh.13M gold scam arrested sneaking back to Kenya

In a statement by the DCI, Puati Poba Dally, 35, was intercepted by immigration officials following a stop order issued in September 2023 when the complaint was lodged at the Operations Support Unit offices in Nairobi.

Puati and his accomplices had conned the said millions from a Ghanaian gold merchant, with the promise of delivering him gold which he would then sell in the United Arab Emirates. 

The victim's woes began when he met Puati at a hotel in Ghana, where he (Puati) introduced himself as Osuman from Nigeria, who was in Ghana for business but whose residence and business addresses were in Uganda.

Puati then promised to introduce the victim to dealers in Uganda whereafter he could sell the gold in Dubai. The victim then flew to Uganda on August 1, 2023 where Puati introduced him to the alleged dealers only identified as Ben and Hassan who were brothers.

This is where the three suspects conned the victim Ksh.10.7 million in the name of documentation of 10kg of gold, non-criminality certification, melting and taxation. Payment for the gold which was agreed at USD 33,000 per kg and was to be made upon delivery to Dubai.

The victim then boarded a UAE-bound flight on August 9 ahead of his cargo, but it delayed to arrive. Days later, he booked a flight back to Uganda to check his gold, only to be told that it was being held at customs offices in Kenya where it had been erroneously flown through.

The victim took a flight to JKIA where he met Puati's other accomplices only identified as Daniel and Lucy, who further fleeced him of over Ksh.4.3 million in tax and clearance of non-existent gold. They then put him on a flight back to Dubai, in pretext that they were having a flight attendant secure his safe containing gold.

DCI says interrogations are being conducted with a view to nab other members of the criminal syndicate.