Two Kenyan traders charged with defrauding US citizen Sh133m in gold scam
Two Nairobi traders have been charged with defrauding an international businessman of KSh133 million in a fake gold deal.
Nicholas Otieno Ndolo and Thomas Otieno Ngoe were arraigned before Milimani senior principal magistrate Zainab Abdula on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.
They are facing three counts of conspiracy to commit a felony, obtaining money through pretenses, and forging a mineral export permit.
Also read: Gold Heist at JKIA: Two tons of gold worth Sh15.1b goes missing
According to the charges, the two traders conspired to defraud an American citizen, Seth Adam Bernistein, of USD 1,000,000 (KSh133 million) between February 3 and 11, 2023.
On February 11, 2023, the duo went to Equity Bank Yaya Centre and obtained USD 1,000,000 (KSh133 million) from Mr. Bernistein, claiming that their company, DSI Mining and Minerals Company Limited, was in a position to pay customs duty for 3,000 kilograms of gold to be shipped from Kenya to Dubai, which was false.
Ndolo was separately charged with forging a Mineral Export Permit reference number EAC/22/92709141705/2022 dated May 16, 2022, purporting to be a genuine Mineral Export Permit issued by the East African Community Customs. Both traders denied the three counts.
Also read: Weapon ties: Inside the Sh67.3m gold scam and what DCI is uncovering
During the hearing, their defence lawyer, Timothy Okello, applied for their release on bond.
Okello urged Ms. Abdul to free the accused on similar bond terms as those imposed by the Kibera Court magistrate, where they had earlier been freed on a cash bail of KSh500,000 each.
The state prosecutor, Abel Omariba, did not oppose the bail plea, and Ms. Abdul released each of the accused on a cash bail of KSh500,000 until April 13, 2023, when the case will be mentioned for pre-bail directions.
Earlier, Okello had informed the court that Ndolo and Ngoe had cooperated with the police during investigations and presented themselves to court for prosecution as directed by the Kilimani DCIO. Ms. Abdul ordered the prosecution to avail witness statements to the accused to prepare their defenses.
When the two traders appeared before Kibera senior principal magistrate Charles Mwaniki two weeks ago, he declined a request by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to detain them for 14 days without bail.
Also read: Detectives recover Sh350m in fake currency, gold in Ruiru