Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have apprehended three individuals accused of defrauding two foreign nationals of over Sh340 million in a gold scam.
The scheme began in June 2022 when Marco Colombo Conti, a businessman and associate of Satbinder Singh, traveled to Kenya to purchase 100 kilograms of gold from one of the suspects, Allain Mwadia Nvita. Conti initially paid around $400,000 in duties and other charges through the law firm Squire AfriLaw Consult Limited.
According to the DCI, “In return for footing the charges on behalf of the seller, he was given 12kg of gold, which the seller claimed he could carry as hand luggage to recover the funds he had paid and any additional fees for the transaction.”
However, just before Conti’s departure, Nvita informed him that he could not take the 12kg of gold as it was part of a larger 112kg consignment he was purchasing. Nvita advised Conti to store the gold in a safe box at Mysafe Vaults at Village Market in Gigiri, Nairobi, which Conti agreed to.
Believing the gold deal was legitimate, Conti left Kenya but returned on February 5, 2024, with his associate Singh. Upon their return, Conti introduced Singh to Nvita, who posed as the gold seller.
Two additional suspects, Lehman John Raymond and Daniel Ogot of Patvad Trading Co. Ltd, joined the prospective client, along with Frank Kateti, a Tanzanian agent.
