BY PHEOBE WANJOHI.
A Nairobi court has granted the Director of Public Prosecutions more time to supply documents to eight persons facing charges of attempting to steal Sh2.85 billion in fake gold.
A senior state prosecutor applied for more time to enable the DPP to serve defence when the matter came up in court.
Milmani principal magistrate Martha Nanzushi granted the request and directed the case to be mentioned on August 7 to confirm the compliance.
The suspects are Charles Vincent Njerenga, Didier Muke, Kelvin Mwaura Ngotho,Brian Otiende, Patrick Otieno, Mark Kabete, Ken Kiboi and Joshua Ngandi.
They have denied allegations of attempting to steal $19,000,000 (Sh2.85 billion) from Halid Bin Yaacob a Malaysian national.
It is alleged that they falsely pretended that they were in a position to sell 500kg of gold, on December 27, 2023.
According to the prosecution, the suspects were arrested on December 27, 2023, in Kileleshwa, Nairobi by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in the midst of a transactional meeting to fraud the complainant who is Malaysian national.
It is said that they were on the verge of a 500-kilogramme semi-refined gold bar fraud scam.
It is also said that, suspects visibly shocked, the complainant who landed in Kenya from Kuala Lumpur on December 25, 2023, following an invitation by Rock Africa miner operated by the suspects.
According to the police, in a well-choreographed scheme, they had set up an operational base in a house in Kileleshwa with fully furnished office-style rooms to steal from unsuspecting foreign nationals.
Yacoob was to meet the seven today to finalise on the first shipment of 50 kg refined gold, per kilogram going for Sh7.2 million.
It is further said that the 500-kilogramme gold amounting to Sh2.85 billion was to be sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A few minutes into the meeting, detectives from the directorate of criminal investigations busted what would have amounted to billions of shillings in a fake gold scheme.
In the deal, the complainants had previously transferred a portion of the necessary funds to members of the group located in a different foreign country, who then directed the two to their accomplices in Kenya.
The suspects then escorted them to an office situated in a private residence within the city. The surveillance team closely monitored the situation until the main gate was closed, effectively locking them out.
“As the sleuths stealthily gained entry into the compound, some suspects jumped over the fence at the back side of the compound, leading to a chase that saw seven of them arrested including two escapees,” DCI said.
The scene was thoroughly examined, leading to the recovery of various exhibits
