Immigration officials at the Busia border intercepted a Congolese man on Wednesday, suspected of involvement in a fake gold scam.
The arrest follows a stop order issued in September 2023 after a complaint was filed with the Operations Support Unit (OSU) in Nairobi. The 35-year-old suspect is currently being interrogated by detectives to gather information about his accomplices.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the suspect came to law enforcement’s attention in 2023 after allegedly orchestrating a fraudulent scheme that defrauded a Ghanaian merchant of $100,000 (approximately Sh13,100,000).
The scam began when the merchant met the suspect at a hotel in Ghana, where he introduced himself as Osuman from Nigeria, claiming to be in Ghana for business, with ties to Uganda.
During their interaction, the suspect learned that the merchant was interested in buying and selling gold and promised to connect him with dealers in Uganda, who could facilitate sales in Dubai.
On August 1, 2023, the merchant traveled to Uganda, where he was introduced to two alleged dealers, referred to only as Ben and Hassan. Over the next few weeks, the merchant reportedly spent $71,300 (around Sh10.7 million) on various documentation for 10 kg of gold, including non-criminality certification and melting fees.
They agreed that payment of $33,000 per kg would be made upon delivery in Dubai. Confident in the arrangements, the merchant flew to Dubai on August 9, expecting his gold to follow.
However, upon returning to Uganda on August 13 to check on the gold, he was told it was being held at customs in Kenya due to a mix-up. The next day, he flew to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), where he met the suspect’s accomplices, identified as Daniel and Lucy. They allegedly extorted nearly $30,000 (over Sh4.3 million) for tax and clearance fees for non-existent gold between August 14 and September 1, 2023.
The accomplices falsely claimed that a flight attendant was securing the gold before putting the merchant back on a flight to Dubai. During take-off, however, chaos ensued as the merchant realized he was being scammed, leading to his ejection from the flight and subsequent filing of a complaint.
The OSU then issued the stop order, resulting in the suspect’s interception on Wednesday. The investigation continues as detectives work to apprehend any additional accomplices involved in this elaborate scam.
