Detectives from the Operations Support Unit have apprehended Steve Okoth Odek, also known as David Bett, for defrauding a foreign national of USD 256,000 in a fake gold scam involving over 500kg of counterfeit gold.
Investigations revealed that the victim entered into two separate gold purchase agreements with the suspect.
On February 6, 2024, the victim agreed to buy 500kg of gold, followed by another 580kg on March 14, 2024, with each kilogram priced at USD 40,000.
The second deal was initiated after the first one failed, where the scammer promised to deliver the gold upon meeting specific conditions, including the buyer covering expenses for jet chartering, taxes, and insurance.
Despite these terms, the scammer once again failed to deliver the gold, and in a bid to continue deceiving the victim, he provided 20kg of “gold bars” as collateral, stored at MySafe Vault.
Unaware of the scam, the victim proceeded to pay a total of USD 256,000 through two law firms: Owano & Associates Advocates ($126,000) and Alata & Co. Advocates ($139,200).
However, when the scammer attempted to extort an additional USD 188,080 from the victim, the fraud was uncovered, and a report was made to the authorities.
Acting swiftly, detectives launched an investigation, recovering the 20kg of “gold” that had been given as collateral.
Upon analysis, the bars were found to contain only copper, zinc, and tin, with no gold present.
Further investigation revealed that the company the scammer used, PCL Natural Resources Limited, was not registered or licensed by the Ministry of Mining to deal with gold or any precious metals.
Armed with this evidence, the detectives tracked down Steve Okoth Odek, who was arrested and is now in custody pending arraignment.
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