DCI pursuing 2 MPs & senator after busting Nairobi fake gold syndicate in Sh1billion deal

The lawmakers are reported to have made attempts to secure the release of the 10 suspects who were arrested during the raid

Sleuths from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have dismantled a fake gold syndicate, arresting at least 10 suspects including a DCI officer and saving an investor who was on the verge of losing Sh 1 billion to the syndicate.

Officers from the DCI conducted a raid at the house where the scammers were operating from in a posh Nairobi estate on Friday, September 8 as the scammers were preparing to their target, a Tunisian national.

DCI boss Mohammed Amin made his way to the crime scene shortly after the suspects were apprehended and recounted that the successful operation started in Tunisia when the syndicate approached the Tunisian national with an offer to sell him one tonne of gold.

Suspicious of the deal, the victim brought the matter to the attention of DCI with an elaborate plan that culminated in the arrests laid out.

"The operation started all the way from Tunisia whereby they indicated they were in the position to sell gold to this Tunisian citizen. Of course he suspected the whole thing is a fraud and reported the matter to us,” Amin stated.

2 MPs and Senator on DCI radar

The Tunisian jetted into the country on September 01 to seal the deal which involved an initial payment of Sh400 before being allowed to inspect the gold with the balance to be cleared afterwards.

He was taken to a house in Ngara area before being asked to make his way to Garden Estate office.

READ: How daring cons visited DCI HQ to impersonate NIS, KDF intelligence officers

In the company of armed police officers and detectives the victim made his way to where the syndicate was, resulting in a swoop that saw several suspects arrested.

The DCI boss noted that a sitting Senator, two sitting Members of Parliament and senior officers in the National Police Service (NPS) are on his radar and could be working with the scammers.

Reports indicate that the individuals who he did not mention attempted to make calls to secure the release of the suspects who are in police custody.

"This is a huge cartel; A huge cartel, and the cartel they like dropping very big names; huge names. A cartel involving Kenyans, Liberians, Nigerians, Ghana, and they operate in a very sophisticated manner," he said.

Amin decried the rise of fake gold scammers in the country, noting that they have turned the posh Kilimani estate into their playground even as authorities close in with several arrests.