According to Kenyanmiror, Most of the suspects linked to gold scam are well stable and have huge sums of money if their lifestyle is something to go by.
Starting with Chris Obure, the man is seriously rich and has several companies that he manage.
He has managed to create employment among several Kenyans.
In 2019 a court ruled to allow his accounts to be frozen.
The accounts the detectives believed that was linked to fake gold criminals, detectives added that the account contained hundreds of millions belonging to Obure and Mr.Jared Otieno.
The court allowed detectives to scrutinize their accounts and financial statements from the time when the accounts were opened to then.
The investigators were also allowed by the court to access to the cheques, cash deposits and RTGS transactions over the years.
Mr Otieno had, one day , presented himself to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations offices after word went round he would be arrested.
Police would later invade his Karen home which was valued at Sh110 million. From the mansion, police recovered luxury cars and some documents in the house, though Otieno had not moved into the new house despite paying for it in cash.
“We have information that Jared paid Ksh110 million cash for this house and we have found things in the house that belong to him,” said a police source.
His other accomplice in the crime Mr Obure stayed at a lavish home in Lavington where he had three high-end vehicles valued at Sh20 million.
Chris Obure was led to Kilimani Police station after the arrest
The accounts jointly had a total of Sh300 million which police believe was fraudulently acquired.
THE DAY OTIENO CAME TO THE LIMELIGHT
Mr Otieno first came to the limelight when pictures emerged on social media in May 2015 as he hosted his in-laws at his rural home of Ndhiwa, Homa Bay County, before leading a delegation to Meru County three months later for dowry payment.
The climax was an invite-only wedding in October 2015 in Nairobi.
The events were conspicuous for the show of wealth, with helicopters vying for parking space with top-of-the-range vehicles, including customised Porsches and Range Rovers. The delegations included politicians, corporate executives and friends.
Notable, too, was the presence of police “escorts”, including outriders. But amid the glitz, police in Nairobi were apparently on the hunt for a Mr Smith Mackenzie Otieno as they investigated a case in which Mr Christian Gallati, an Austrian national, was on May 1, 2015 defrauded of €127,000 (Sh13.7 million).
While Mr Mackenzie was listed as being “at large”, Mr Kevin Obia alias Kevin Kleigh — who was also involved in Mr Otieno’s marriage ceremonies — had made several appearances at Nairobi’s Milimani Law Courts.
Like Mr Otieno, Mr Obia — sometimes referred to as the “Don” — is well known in Nairobi’s high-end entertainment circuit and is often described as a “flamboyant businessman” in media reports.
KILOS OF GOLD
Mr Obia is facing charges of pretending that he could sell 7kg of gold to Mr Gallati for which he obtained the Sh13.7 million during a meeting at a hotel in Nairobi city centre. Prosecutors also allege an attempt to obtain $570,000 (Sh57 million) from Mr Gallati. This time the amount of gold the complainant was promised weighed 13kg.
Mr Gallati had reported the case to Nairobi’s Central Police Station on May 18, 2015 and has been flying in and out of the country to attend court sessions alongside a witness.
A source familiar with the case, but who spoke in confidence, said some court appearances have sometimes been postponed to the inconvenience of the Austrian, but a hearing is set for April 18.
The Nation can today reveal that Mr Jared Otieno and “Mr Smith Mackenzie Otieno” — also known as “Mr Smith Mackenzie” — is one and the same person. He is suspected to be part of a Kenyan-based international ring of fraudsters that mostly offers gold to foreign buyers at heavily discounted prices, but ends up selling air, receiving export processing fees for non-existent cargo or shipping pieces of gold-coloured scrap metal to victims who had paid millions of shillings.
Documents belonging to “Mr Mackenzie” obtained from multiple sources show his preferred form of identification to those he is dealing with is a passport issued on November 8, 2002 showing he was born on March 4, 1980.
Our checks with sources at the Immigration Department indicate no records of such a passport or its use for travel, raising questions on its authenticity. The picture in the passport is, however, that of Mr Otieno. In effect, he has been hiding in plain sight.
He has since been charged in court with gold scam related charges .
EDWIN OCHIENG ODUK
The man looks polite and organized, him too has managed to accumulate alot of resources through Gold fraud and Scamming. He drives high end vehicles and he stays in some lavish area within the Kenya Capital Nairobi.
Some media houses warns international and local businessmen from associating with him especially in issues related to gold.
CHARGES IN COURT( our case studies and support links and videos)
businessman Ochieng Oduk was charged last month with defrauding a French national $59,994 (About Sh9 million) while pretending he was to spend the same as a facilitation fee to ship $89,000,000 (KSh12.8billion) from Nairobi to Kigali arising from the sale of precious gemstones in Qatar.
Edwin Ochieng Oduk was charged with defrauding Mr William Tuil the money on diverse dates between July 22, 2022, and June 20, 2023, within Nairobi County.
Oduk who had been under police investigation since August 17, 2023, was arraigned before Senior Principal Magistrate Charles Mwaniki facing nine counts of obtaining money through pretences, forgery of shipping documents, and presenting those waybills to Mr Tuil while knowing they were not genuine.
He denied the charges and was released on a cash bail of Sh800,000.
In the first indictment, Oduk was accused of obtaining $16,000 from Tuil between July 22 and August 10, 2022, claiming he was to insure four boxes containing $89million (KSH12.8billion) held at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Nairobi, a fact he knew to be false.
On June 25, 2023, Oduk allegedly defrauded Mr Tuil $12,500 alleging he was to hire a private jet to airlift the four boxes containing $89m from JKIA to Kigali Rwanda.
He was further indicted for obtaining fraudulently $31,494 from Mr Tuil claiming the hard currency was for paying Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Customs Duty for the boxes containing the $89m.
The said gems fraud stems from the alleged sale of 950 kilograms of Coltan minerals in Qatar.
The alleged precious gem was airlifted from Gabon to Qatar and from Qatar to Kenya.
Coltan is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted.
Other charges filed against Oduk are those of forging a Kenya Airways Bill letter number 706-50683 purporting it to be genuine and issued by the Kenya Airways Authority.
He was also accused of forging African Cargo Handling Limited (ACHL) letter SN ICCD No-NBO-264301 purporting it to be genuine issued by ACHL on June 3, 2023.
Oduk also denied forging another letter for the Customs Service Department for the East African Community (EAC) reference number CDARCN3360742023 purporting it to be a genuine letter issued by EAC
The last charge was of giving Tuil on June 23, 2023, recognizing the existence of the $89m and its movement.
The prosecution did not oppose the release of the suspect on bond.
When Oduk was first arraigned the prosecution claimed he received the money to facilitate the transfer of the hard currency from Gabon to Rwanda via Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
He was arrested by Inspector Nicholas Njoroge of the serious crimes unit at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters on August 17, 2023.
The caae is still active at the Kibera Law courts and we shall be following it up at a close range.