Nairobi News

Imagine living a life of first-class luxury where you envelope your body with Hermes and Louis Vuitton blankets, wearing Gucci sweats and limited edition sneakers while flashing cash on social media.

And then showing a Richard Mille timepiece on your wrist and being whisked away in the latest Mercedes or a Lamborghini and only later to be spotted in Mirema, Roysambu, a middle-low income residential area in Nairobi.

On April 12, 2023, detectives based in Mombasa launched a manhunt for a man who is believed to be a South Sudanese national, known by several aliases, including Don Solomon, Mukisa Okello, Tony Taban, Suleiman Malish, Yee, and Big Popa believed to be an international serial fraudster with fraud cases stretching from Melbourne in Australia, to Kampala, Uganda and Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.

Authorities have described him as ‘self-styled millionaire who is wanted for depositing a bad cheque of Sh599,950 in favour of Naivas Limited and fraudulently obtaining ten, 55-inch television sets from Naivas Mwembe Tayari branch, on March 8, 2023.”

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) says the suspect who has previously been arraigned at the Milimani law courts for forgery and being in the country illegally has also been accused of obtaining services from top 5-star hotels in the city and sneaking out without paying.

In one such establishment along Chiromo Road, the man on the run failed to pay a bill of Sh1.045 Million after spending days at the luxury facility.

Through his flashy lifestyle, the suspect is believed to have previously gifted a TV host in Uganda a sleek automobile, that was later discovered to have been stolen from Congo DRC by Ugandan authorities.

Again, he is believed to have previously gifted a TV host a sleek car that was later discovered stolen from DRC Congo by Ugandan authorities.

The suspect is also accused of fraud and related offenses at various banks in Melbourne Capital, Victoria State in Australia.

Nairobi News has established that the suspect was recently spotted in Roysambu’s Mirema Drive where he is believed to be dwelling and has since evaded a police dragnet twice.

Without much information about him, authorities from Uganda, say that on several occasions, Don Solomon has been hunted down by police in Uganda over fraud.

In 2021, he was arrested and imprisoned for allegations of impersonation, accumulative debts, and Electronic Fraud, no one knows when or how he was released or left jail.

In Kenya, he is wanted for depositing a bad cheque of Sh599,950 in favor of Naivas Limited and fraudulently obtaining 10 television sets of 55 inches from the Naivas Mwembe Tayari branch on March 8 this year.

“Around the same time, the fugitive is also said to have fraudulently obtained assorted steel rods from Bayfair Hardware at Bombolulu in Mombasa valued at Sh842,000 by depositing a bad cheque of a similar amount at the hardware’s bank account,” DCI said.

“Part of the consignment was recovered at Mulolongo and one suspect charged vide CR 345/56/2023 at Shanzu Law Courts.”

Police believe that ‘Pig Popa’ who resembles Grammy Award winner American rapper The Notorious B.I.G. aka ‘Big Poppa’ who known for his first studio album Ready to Die took pictures and shared the to social media site Instagram and used them and made calls trying to find new leads on their your next person to scam.

To many, was a beloved figure on social media. Celebrities wanted to be friends with him more than he wanted to be friends with them. He was followed by the continent’s top entertainers and partied with them especially in Uganda.

A look at his social media has revealed that some of the people he had taken pictures with, both in Kenya and Uganda have since been deleted, maybe, fearing the backlash after he is apprehended.

Investigators behind the case who spoke to Nairobi News, said that they used his social media accounts on Instagram to track and gather evidence of what he was doing.

“It has taken us more than a year to try and find who he is, we had to use social media to try and truck him. We will find hi,” an officer from DCI office in Ksarani disclosed.

‘Big Papa’, was previously arraigned in Nairobi for forgery and being in the country illegally and has also been accused of obtaining services from top 5-star hotels in the city and sneaking out without paying.

In one such hotel along Chiromo Road, the suspected allegedly failed to pay a bill of Sh1.045 million after spending days at the luxury facility.

“Big Papa who flaunts a flashy lifestyle has also heartbroken the hearts of a dozen city babes, who wowed by his fake lifestyle have fallen for him only to be left in trouble,” DCI added.

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