City gold dealer Kevin Sonko has been arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over allegations of fraud and conspiracy.
Sonko, who was arrested from his office at the China Wu Yi Plaza in Kilimani by officers from the DCI’s Operation Support Unit (OSU) on Thursday, is also being probed over his links with the key suspect in a fraud where a Chinese national is said to have lost Sh151 million. He is expected to be arraigned in court
The Chinese businessman is said to have paid the amount for containers tantalum minerals which was reportedly from Congo but was intercepted in Mombasa and found to be soil instead of the said minerals.
The ‘minerals’ had already been paid for in the hundreds of millions with the new owners unaware it was a scam, according to the DCI.
The DCI report indicated that the incident is linked to fake gold scammers who used to operate in Nairobi’s Kilimani area using Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
“There were reports that the main suspect was at the Kilimani offices of Kelvin. Detectives raided the scene but the main suspect was not found. It is suspected he was tipped off and escaped,” a detrective aware of the probe said.
About ten suspects were arrested from Sonko’s office but all, except Sonko, were released on Saturday.
The fraudsters linked to Sonko are suspected to have shifted operations to Mombasa and colluding with officials of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
The DCI had launched investigations and intercepted the consignment at the Mombasa container terminal (MCT).
The DCI officers believe the two containers were just about to be shipped to China as well. The containers were finally opened, and inside were reconditioned metallic drums which were loaded with sand as tantalum minerals.
At the centre of investigations is a suspect by the name Lumumba Patrick who is said to be collaborating with fake gold scammers in Congo and Uganda.
