Smuggled Gold
Two foreigners are expected in court today to face various charges after they allegedly obtained Sh6.4 million from an Australian man in pretext of selling him gold.
This is the latest such incident to be reported to police in a trend that follows a similar script and befalls those eager to make quick money.
The first one to be arrested was a Burundian national identified as Chris Mugisha and a Malian man who had posed as a diplomat Abdoulay Al Bauchiry Mohammed.
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The Australian man identified as Hwalla Karim explained to the police how he was conned of the money in a script that has become common on foreigners eager to make quick money by getting cheap gold.
He said he bought gold from Mali in September 2020 but due to a coup that had taken place there he could not export the consignment as he had anticipated.
It was then that he sought the assistance of Mohammed who had posed as a Malian diplomat in Kenya.
Later he was told the consignment had reached Nairobi and it needed clearance from Kenyan customs and Kenya Revenue Authority(KRA) officials.
This forced the complainant to travel to Nairobi where he was shown the consignment and told to pay USD 64,500 (Sh6.4million) for the clearance to be done by a local clearing agency.
According to police, he paid in cash to the Burundian national who said he was a director of the said clearing company inthe presence of Mohammed at the offices along Diani Road, Nairobi.
The officers said they later went to Mugishu’s house along Wanyee Road in the city and recovered six pieces of imitation of gold bars, two pieces of forceps and two embossing seals.
Police plan to charge them with obtaining money by false presences while Mohammed will face an extra charge of being inthe country illegally.
This is the latest such incident to be reported to the police involving foreigners and where unsuspecting buyers are conned of millions for being eager to get gold.
– The Star/ Cyrus Ombati
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