Two of the ten people arrested over a Sh67 million fake gold scam have been charged at a Nairobi court with defrauding an American woman of Sh12.6 million.
Mr Seth Steve Okute and Mr Bruno Otieno Oliende were charged with obtaining $100,000 (Sh12,613,000) from Ms Marjorie Grant in March 2022 by pretending that they were in position to pay custom duties for 33 kilogrammes of gold shipped from Burkina Faso. They denied the charges.
Their eight co-accused were not charged after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) recalled the police file for review. Prosecutor Ann Munywa urged Milimani Magistrate Esther Kimilu to defer the planned plea-taking for the eight suspects until the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) makes final decision on whether to charge them.
The magistrate granted the prosecutor 14 days and fixed the case for mention on March 6, when the court will be informed of the outcome of the ODPP’s review. The suspects are Samuel Wathika Gathuru, Moses Otieno Oketch, Patroba Odhiambo Tobias, Elisha Mbadi Kimbero, Teddy Samora Kowino, Loaennis Kaisarios, Mugabe Patrick Biriko and Collins Kiprotich Langat.
They are currently out of police custody on a cash bail of Sh100,000 each though they are required to be reporting to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Office every Friday.
They were arrested two weeks ago for allegedly defrauding two American citizens $534,000 (Sh66,696,600) in a fake gold deal.
The ten were arrested in separate raids at Nairobi’s upmarket Kitusuru and Kilimani suburbs.
Mr Seth Steve Okute and Mr Bruno Otieno Oliende were released on bail of Sh100,000 each. According to the prosecution, the two were arrested following a report made by Ms Grant, an American investor living in Los Angeles, California. Mr Okute was the first to be arrested before detectives headed to Mr Otieno’s home in Kitusuru. Mr Okute was found in possession of a Baretta pistol loaded with 13 rounds.
The sleuths found heavy metallic boxes, suspected to be used to store crucial information that is currently assisting the officers in the investigations.
Mr Okute contested the Karachuonyo parliamentary seat on an Orange Democratic Movement party ticket, while Mr Oliende contested the Suna East parliamentary seat in Migori County as an independent candidate.
