Ten suspects arrested in Ksh.67M gold scam; 2 guns, 470 rounds of ammunition recovered

The firearms and rounds of ammunition recovered from ten gold scam suspects. PHOTO | COURTESY | DCI
Police in Nairobi have arrested ten suspects, among
them 8 Kenyans and 2 foreign nationals, for allegedly defrauding two American
citizens USD 534,000 (Ksh.67.3 million).
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI),
in a statement released on Saturday, noted that two firearms and over 470
rounds of ammunition were also recovered during the operation.
According to the DCI, the suspects allegedly defrauded
Ms. Marjorie R. Grant - who is based in Los Angeles, California - of the
aforementioned amount in a fake gold scam deal.
Two of the suspects; Seth Steve Okuthe and Brunoh
Otieno Oliende alias Oyugi, were nabbed in Kitisuru while the rest were
apprehended within Kilimani.
The other suspects included; Kenyans Samuel Wathika
Gathuru, Odhiambo Tobias Patrobas, Oketch Moses, Patrick Mugabe, Elisha Mbandi,
Teddy Zamora, as well as Greek citizen Kaisarios Loamms and Indian national
Siva Sakthi Veru.
“In one of the latest high-level fake gold scams in
the capital, the detectives who were acting on intelligence leads arrested 8
Kenyans, one Indian and a Greek citizen in two separate raids at Nairobi’s
upmarket Kitusuru and Kilimani suburbs, in one of the latest scams targeting
foreign investors,” stated the DCI.
DCI sleuths recorded that Okuthe’s arrest led to
Brunoh’s apprehension at his palatial home in Kitusuru, where heavy metallic
boxes suspected to be used in the storage of crucial exhibits were recovered.
“Following the raid, Samuel Waithaka was found in
possession of a Sigsauer P229 Pistol while his accomplice Steve Okute was
found in possession of a Baretta pistol loaded with 13 rounds of 9mm
ammunition,” DCI stated.
“A Gilboa rifle suspected to have been using the
5.56mm ammo was found missing during the raid.”
Closer examination by the detectives also led to
the recovery of 3 laptops, suspected mineral stones coated in gold and silver
colours as well as a cheque book issued by a local bank.
Other items which were also confiscated were a
briefcase containing metal analyser tools, cash counting machines, rubber stamp
inscribed ‘Bukule Tereno Advocates Kinshasa’ and assorted metal rods.
The sleuths later learnt that one of the suspects -
Veru, the Indian national - had just arrived in the country and was about to be
conned Ksh.25 million by the other suspects prior to his arrest.
The 10 suspects are currently being held in police custody
awaiting arraignment as detectives continue with investigations.
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