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Dutch businessman to get back KES 157M back in a fake gold scam
Bernhard Ten Brinke, a Dutch businessman and rally driver, has been awarded KES 157 million by the court after he was conned out of money by fraudsters posing as gold traders.
The money was being held by the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA), which had seized it from a Kenyan, a Cameroonian, and two Zambians and their three companies.
Lady Justice Esther Maina ruled in Brinke’s favor after a two-year court battle.
According to Brinke, his troubles started in December 2020 when he entered into a contract with Global Freight Management Limited, a Kenyan firm, for the purchase and supply of 500kg of gold worth KES 2.1 billion.
He transferred KES 171 million to the account of a lawyer who was acting on behalf of the fraudsters with a promise that he should come for the first batch of the gold consignment.
In January 2021, he sent two representatives to Nairobi to sign the contract for delivery of the gold only to realize that he had been conned.
He reported the incident to ARA, which filed a suit against Bupe Chipando, Carrolle Simutengu, Eddy Malonga, Elvis Muga, and their companies Mubadala Merchants Limited, First Cargo Logistics, and First Line Capital Limited.
ARA claimed that the traders and their companies received more than KES 728 million from foreign entities between May 2019 and January 2021 in what they suspected to be an international fake gold racket.
The traders used agreements supported by falsified custom declaration forms purportedly from Kenya Revenue Authority to facilitate the movement of the funds to their personal accounts.