The hearing of a case in which businessman Edwin Ochieng Oduk is charged with illegally obtaining some Ksh12.8 billion from a French national after allegedly luring him into a fictitious minerals deal has been postponed to July 29, 2024.
Kibera Senior Magistrate Christine Njagi adjourned the case after the foreign investor William Tuil failed to appear in court and testify against Oduk who is alleged to be a mastermind of an international fake gold syndicate.
While seeking an adjournment, a state prosecutor informed the magistrate that the complainant was unwell and also not in the country.
The prosecution also asked the court to allow the French businessman to testify virtually during the next hearing date.
As a consequence, Magistrate Njagi granted the state request and directed the case to be heard virtually on July 29, 2024.
In the case, Oduk is charged with defrauding William Tuil a French businessman the money while pretending he was in a position to sell him gemstones in Qatar fact he knew to be false.
The prosecution also alleges that Oduok swindled the French national in an incident where he claimed to be in a position to process the release of USD 89 million (Ksh.12.8 billion) in a fictitious account and transport it for him in cash from Gabon to Ghana then Rwanda.
He is said to have later claimed that Kenyan authorities impounded the cash.
Oduk is said to have committed the offence on diverse dates between July 22, 2022, and June 20, 2023, within Nairobi County.
Oduk, who had been under police investigation since August 17, 2023, was arraigned in court where he currently faces nine counts of obtaining money through pretences, forgery of shipping documents, and presenting those waybills to Tuil while knowing they were not genuine.
In the first count, Oduk is accused of obtaining $16,000 from Tuil between July 22 and August 10, 2022, claiming he was to insure four boxes containing $89million (KSh12.8billion) held at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Nairobi, a fact he knew to be false.
On June 25, 2023, Oduk allegedly defrauded Tuil $12,500 alleging he was to hire a private jet to airlift the four boxes containing $89m from JKIA to Kigali Rwanda.
He was further indicted for obtaining fraudulently $31,494 from Tuil claiming the hard currency was for paying Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Customs Duty for the boxes containing the $89m.
The said gems fraud stems from the alleged sale of 950 kilograms of Coltan minerals in Qatar.
The alleged precious gem was airlifted from Gabon to Qatar and from Qatar to Kenya.
Coltan is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted.
Other charges filed against Oduk are those of forging a Kenya Airways Bill letter number 706-50683 purporting it to be genuine and issued by the Kenya Airways Authority.
He was also accused of forging African Cargo Handling Limited (ACHL) letter SN ICCD No-NBO-264301 purporting it to be genuine issued by ACHL on June 3, 2023.
Oduk also denied forging another letter for the Customs Service Department for the East African Community (EAC) reference number CDARCN3360742023 purporting it to be a genuine letter issued by EAC
The last charge was related to recognizing the existence of the $89m and its movement
When Oduk was first arraigned the prosecution claimed he received the Ksh9 million to facilitate the transfer of the hard currency from Gabon to Rwanda via JKIA.
He was arrested by Inspector Nicholas Njoroge of the serious crimes unit at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters on August 17, 2023.
Oduok has since denied all the allegations and is out on a cash bail of Ksh 800, 000.
