A lawyer was Thursday arrested for his role in a high-stakes fake gold scam that defrauded a Canadian investor of USD 618,000 (Sh80 million) in Nairobi.
This came as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) intensified its efforts against transnational gold fraud syndicates, responsible for defrauding foreign investors of hundreds of thousands of dollars through elaborate fake gold schemes.
In an ongoing investigation, detectives from the Operations Support Unit (OSU) have arrested Michael Otieno Owano, an advocate and proprietor of Otieno M.O. Law Advocates, for his role in a high-stakes scam that defrauded the Canadian investor of USD 618,000.
The victim was lured into a fake gold export deal involving 250 kilograms of gold, allegedly set for shipment to Dubai aboard a private jet.
On April 15, 2025, a Proforma Invoice of USD318,400 was issued by EAI Logistics, with the funds wired to Owano’s law firm account.
He was later asked to send an additional USD300,000 to a cryptocurrency wallet, but no gold was ever delivered.
Owano’s arrest follows the earlier arrest of Francis Talla Ouafo, also known as Allain, a Cameroonian national believed to be the mastermind of the syndicate. He was arraigned on July 31, 2025, at the Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court.
In a separate but similarly orchestrated scam, Lupemba Lorenzi Olivier, a Congolese national, appeared at the Milimani Law Courts in connection with a fraudulent gold deal targeting a Gabonese investor.
Detectives secured a seven-day custodial order to finalise investigations.
The matter is scheduled for mention on August 13, 2025.
Meanwhile, another suspect, Kelvin Otieno Onyango, alias Kevo Sonko, the alleged director of SwiftTaxis Logistics Ltd, was arrested for his role in the same case.
The complainant was led to his office, where they negotiated and formalised the gold deal. He later transferred USD140,000 into an escrow account.
This comes as DCI intensifies efforts to dismantle the networks behind these sophisticated gold scams.
This is the latest such an arrest to take place amid operations on gold scammers in the country.
Police say most of the suspects behind the incidents have been arrested and arraigned and their cases remain active in courts. Some have been found guilty.
The operations have been mounted in the past years after many foreigners complained they had been scammed in the city.
Nairobi was increasingly turning to be the hub for fake gold deals, which prompted the operations.
Police say they have dozens of cases of complaints from foreigners who say they had been conned by Kenyans pretending to be selling gold.
In efforts to address such incidents, the DCI had asked embassies in the country to join the fight against the vice by urging them to advise their nationals engaged in trade to follow procedures.
“We urge the Embassies (High Commissions) to advise their nationals coming in for business to be apprised of con business of gold going on in the country and first contact the Department of Mines and Geology for the procedure that pertains to buying and selling of gold and other precious metals,” the DCI said.
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