Former Nairobi gubernatorial candidate Agnes Kagure has been accused by a German investor of conning him staggering Sh142 million in an alleged petroleum deal.
The German national, Uwe Heinz Odenthal, claims that he parted with the money as investment in Trojan Six Oil 2019 Ltd, in a deal that was to net him dividends equivalent to 30 per cent of his capital, or €300,000 (Sh42 million) every year.
According to reports, Mr Odenthal holds that he took a €500,000 (Sh71.3 million) loan from a German bank, and has been forced to find other ways to service the debt after Ms Kagure and other company directors went silent on him.
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At the time of striking the deal, Mr Odenthal was promised that he would receive a percentage of profit from the business in his German bank account every month.
Instead, he has been left looking for €4,500 (Sh641,500) every month to service the loan he took for the investment.
And while he feels the pinch of repaying the loan, Mr Odenthal says he may have dodged a bullet. The German was so convinced with the deal that he intended to invest another €3 million (Sh427 million).
“I feel cheated, stolen from, and defrauded… I had hoped to sell a building for €3 million to inject more capital in the business,” Mr Odenthal said in a statement he recorded with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The promise was that his €1 million would go into a pool of funds other investors had put together, and invest in the petroleum business.
The botched deal dates back to November 19, 2022, when Mr Odenthal received a dinner invite from his friend, Jurgen Haese, another German national who lives in Cologne.
At the dinner, Mr Haese told Mr Odenthal how he could mint millions from the petroleum business in Kenya.
Both are married to Kenyan women, and Mr Haese claimed that his wife, Rose Kirimi, is a close friend of Ms Kagure.
Mr Haese claimed to have invested €2.5 million (Sh356.3 million), and that he was expecting 30 per cent of his investment every year.
Mr Haese said that this was the minimum amount for any investor that wanted in on the deal.
After pondering over the deal and getting confident on account of his friend’s glowing testimonial, Mr Odenthal opted to proceed, but with caution.
He proposed to put €500,000 on the table. The proposal was for Mr Haese to take the money and add it to the €2.5 million he claimed to have already pumped in.
Mr Haese declined and insisted that Mr Haese invest independently.
The two agreed to travel to Nairobi, which would allow Mr Odenthal to conduct his due diligence on the deal.
Mr Odenthal claims that Ms Kagure first contacted him on November 25, 2022.
Mr Odenthal and Mr Haese flew to Kenya on December 18, 2022, and they spent some nights in their spouses’ homes in Nairobi and Diani.
On January 4, 2023, Mr Odenthal met Ms Kagure for the first time when he visited her home. Introductions were done by Ms Kirimi, Mr Haese’s wife.
Mr Odenthal told the DCI that after Ms Kagure made a presentation explaining how petroleum works in Kenya, he intimated that he was ready to invest €500,000 to test the waters for approximately one year.
If things went well, he said he was willing to invest an additional €1.5 million by July 2024.
Ms Kagure was adamant on a minimum of €1.5 million, he adds. A deal was struck when Mr Odenthal said he could not risk more than €1 million.
The German said that after lunch, Ms Kagure drove him around Nairobi, a tour that consumed the entire afternoon.
On January 5, 2023, Mr Odenthal, Mr Haese, their spouses, and Ms Kagure were to travel together to Nanyuki, and meet a company director initially introduced as Benson Mwangi, alias Patron.
Mr Odenthal had been told that the petroleum company is based in Nanyuki.
The man introduced as Patron, Mr Odenthal has told police, would turn out to be Joseph Mwai Nderitu, a co-owner of Trojan Six Oil 2019 Ltd with 500 shares. The only other owner, records from the Business Registration Service show, is Kinyua Mwangi, with 500 shares.
Ms Kagure, Said Mohamed Farah, and Franklin Were Juma are listed as directors, but with no shares.
Mr Nderitu has however refuted claims by Mr Odenthal that he hosted the delegation in Nanyuki.
Ms Kagure allegedly backed out of the Nanyuki trip at the last minute.
Mr Odenthal claims that Mr Nderitu’s demeanour gave him more confidence and belief in the investment.
At what was presented as the company premises, Mr Odenthal says he was not allowed to take any photos.
The following day, Mr Odenthal wired €125,000 (Sh17.8 million) to a law firm as per instructions by his soon-to-be business partners.
On January 7, Mr Odenthal met Ms Kagure in her office in Nairobi and explained that he could only raise €1 million, half of which was to be obtained through a loan.
Ms Kagure allegedly agreed.
“Kagure agreed and accepted my proposal above and she told me that she is the main boss on the board of the oil company and that I should not worry at all. We then shook hands, hugged each other, and she say (sic) “welcome to the company”. This exchange of assurances from Kagure was happening and was witnessed in the presence of Jurgen, Rose, and Amina. After an exchange of more pleasantries, Jurgen, Amina, and myself flew to Mombasa,” Mr Odenthal said in his statement to the police.
On January 11, 2023, Mr Odenthal sent €375,000 (Sh53.4 million) to the same law firm he had been told was the recipient of all investor funds.
On May 2, 2023, Mr Odenthal’s bank sent €500,000 to the law firm, bringing his total investment to the agreed €1 million.
Two days later, he flew to Nairobi and signed contracts affirming the investment.
Ms Kagure and Mr Nderitu allegedly refused to let him read the contract before signing.
“Don’t you trust us?” Mr Nderitu allegedly quipped before explaining that the document needed to be stamped by a lawyer and would be sent to him afterwards.
The following day, he told police that the contract was still not ready, and that was when it struck, Mr Odenthal said that something was not right.
“I mean, I sent €1 million without a lawyer, their lawyer brings the contract to sign; I see him only for five minutes, and now I want a copy of the agreement I have just signed, then I am told it is not ready just because of a stamp? To date I have not been given that agreement,” Mr Odenthal said in his statement.
Mr Odenthal said in his statement that on May 11, 2023, Ms Kagure, Mr Nderitu, and Ms. Kirimi called him for a meeting in which they demanded that he had to pay another €500,000 for business to proceed.
After insisting that he could not raise the funds, Ms Kagure and Mr Nderitu allegedly offered to loan him the money and he signed another agreement to that effect.
His friend’s wife, Ms Kirimi, had bought two bottles of champagne to celebrate the sealing of the deal.
That was the last time he would ever have any proper contact with any of his newfound business partners.
He says that Ms Kagure has in the past responded to some of his WhatsApp queries, but has never answered any questions regarding his money.
Mr Odenthal has asked the DCI to investigate Trojan Six Oil 2019 Ltd and its directors, a move he hopes can get them to refund his money with interest at prevailing bank rates.
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