Two alleged gold cartels were today arraigned in court facing charges of defrauding a Swiss national of over Ksh 52 million and were poised to extract additional funds from him were it not for Detective’s intervention.
Two purported gold cartels were presented in court today, accused of defrauding a Swiss citizen of more than Ksh 52 million.
- Two alleged gold cartels were today arraigned in court facing charges of defrauding a Swiss national of over Ksh 52 million and were poised to extract additional funds from him were it not for Detective’s intervention.
The two suspects, Julius Kirimi Muthuri and Richard Heineg Olaf were charged that on diverse dates between November 2023 and March 2024 conspired to steal USD 163,490 from Roger Gahwiler by falsely pretending that they were in a position to facilitate transportation of gold weighing 700 Kilograms and USD 30 million in cash from Kenya to Turkey.
Appearing before Milimani Law Courts Senior Principal Magistrate Robinson Ondieki, the suspects denied the charges and were detained in custody until Friday when the court is expected to issue direction on whether to release them or not.
According to the DCI, the victim became entangled with the scammers after receiving information from his ailing father, who had previously worked in Ghana that about twenty years ago, his father had acquired property in Ghana, which he later sold, leaving the proceeds in the custody of a trustee in Ghana.
“The victim fell into the hands of the two scammers after he was informed by his ailing father who had worked in Ghana that about twenty years ago, he acquired some property in Ghana which he later sold and left the proceeds under the custody of a trustee in Ghana,” wrote the DCI.
In his quest to reclaim this asset, the victim connected with a Ghanaian lady named Mamee Efua Esong, who acted as a translator during the original transaction and arranged to meet her in 2020.
This woman asserted her familiarity with the father’s past dealings and informed the victim that the proceeds from the property sale amounted to USD 62.8 million.
However, she claimed that a special purpose company was necessary to facilitate the transfer of these funds.
The Swiss national was misled into establishing a company intended for the transfer of the money to his home country, but not before he was coerced into paying various taxes and facilitation fees to the scammers in Ghana, Dubai, Tanzania, Uganda, and eventually Kenya, all under the pretense of moving his father’s assets to Switzerland.
“The Swiss national was tricked into registering a company that was to be used to transfer the money to his home country but not before paying taxes and facilitation money to the scammers in Ghana, Dubai, Tanzania, Uganda and later Kenya all in a bid to have his father’s consignment move to Switzerland,” DCI revealed.
While in Kenya, he was introduced to Mr. Richard Olaf Heinig, who subsequently partnered with Mr. Julius Muthuri Kirimi in November 2023 who claimed to own Lawsam Security Company, which was purportedly contracted to transport and store the cargo, allegedly inspected and stored at a Nairobi airport.
The victim was later denied access to the containers, compelling him to pay approximately USD 400,000 in facilitation fees to the suspects.
After exhausting his resources, the victim realized he had been defrauded and lodged a complaint with the Kenyan Mission in Switzerland.
This matter was subsequently referred to the DCI through the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, leading to an investigation and the arrest of the scammers.
