A Congolese man suspected to be a fake gold scammer has been arrested while entering Kenya at the Busia border point.
According to the police, Puati Poba Dally, 35, is the main suspect in a USD 100,000 (Ksh13.1 million as per the current exchange rates) fake gold scam involving a Ghanaian national.
"A Congolese fake-gold scammer who in 2023 engineered fraudulent machinations that bamboozled a Ghanaian merchant into a raw USD 100,000 deal is cooling his heels in Kenyan cells after attempting a sneak-back through the Busia border," the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said in a statement on Thursday, May 9, 2024.
According to the crime busters, Puati was arrested following a stop order issued in September 2023 when the complaint was lodged at the Operations Support Unit (OSU) offices in Nairobi.
"In a classic case of clueless gold dealers losing millions to transnational organized ruthless gold diggers, the victim's woes and journey to destitution began when he met Puati at a hotel in Ghana over lunch hour. Puati introduced himself as Osuman from Nigeria, who was in Ghana for business but whose residence and business addresses were in Uganda. In the course of their interaction, Puati learned that the victim was interested in the purchase and sale of gold, where he promised to introduce him to dealers in Uganda whereafter he could sell the gold in Dubai," DCI explained.
More gold scammers
The victim flew to Uganda on August 1, 2023, where Puati introduced him to the alleged dealers only identified as Ben and Hassan, claimed to be brothers.
"The weeks that followed saw the victim tossed back and forth by the three racketeers, and with each toss came the milking of dollars to a tune of USD 71,300 (Ksh10.7 million) in the name of documentation of 10kg of gold, non-criminality certification, melting and taxation. Payment for the gold which was agreed at USD 33,000 per kg was to be made upon delivery to Dubai," DCI reveals.
Just like in other scams, the victim waited for his gold to be shipped to Dubai to no avail. Worse still, he flew back to Uganda where he was told that his gold was being held at customs offices in Kenya where it had been erroneously flown through.
"Confident that he was done with all the logistical procedures, the victim boarded a UAE-bound flight on August 9 ahead of his cargo. He would days later book a flight back to Uganda on August 13 to check his gold, only to be told that it was being held at customs offices in Kenya where it had been erroneously flown through," the crime busters reveal.
He then decided to fly to Kenya where he met Puati's accomplices only identified as Daniel and Lucy. The police say that the victim was fleeced a further USD 30,000 (over Ksh4.3 million) in tax and clearance of non-existent commodity between August 14 and September 1, 2023.
He then boarded a flight back to Dubai, after being informed that a flight attendant was securing his safe containing gold.
"DCI OSU team would only learn of the fraud when uncontrollable screams and wails were witnessed during take-off, forcing the victim to be ejected from the flight and his complaint recorded. Following the arrest of the prime suspect yesterday, interrogations are being conducted with a view to nab other members of the criminal syndicate," DCI adds.
