The fatal shooting of a 28-year-old businessman Kevin Omwenga at Galana Suites in Kilimani and subsequent arrests of Chris Obure and Robert Ouko Bodo has once again up the spotlight on the gold scamming trade where foreigners are swindled large some of the money for nonexistent gold.
Chris Obure, who is suspected to be the owner of the firearm used, was arrested on Saturday afternoon.
Robert Bodo had earlier been arrested and a mini Ceska firearm with 13 rounds of ammunition suspected to have been used in the shooting was recovered, DCI said in a tweet.
The death of Omwenga is linked to a gold deal gone sour, with sources saying the trio successfully carried out a deal but Omwenga kept all the cash to himself.
The trio however represents a group of flamboyant young men and women who mainly operate within the upmarket Kilimani area and who eat life with big spoons.
Night clubs love them, blogs are not sure whether to refer to them as socialites or “flashy businessmen” and celebrities want to be associated with them.
These group of thugs withdraw their firearms at the slightest provocation and always seem to get away with it.
In fact, Chris Obure has a pending case where he withdrew a gun and shot someone at a parking lot of a night club.
He was then bailed by among others Embakassi East MP Bau Owino, who himself is currently facing attempted murder charges for shooting DJ Evolve.
And behind the façade of expensive clothes, jewellery, cars and beautiful women is a questionable source of income that has been an open secret in Nairobi for the last few years.
Gold scammers
Gold scammers mostly offer gold to foreign buyers at heavily discounted prices. It is a criminal activity that requires heavy investment including having actual gold that is shown to clients when they arrive in the country.
Once in the country, those lured by the gold scammers are given first-class treatment from the airport to being booked into five-star hotels and being provided with an array of beautiful women for company.
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The scammers have even made arrangements with cargo companies at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for temporary storage of the ‘gold’ that is shown to the clients.
Once a potential victim shows interest in the gold, the con artistes ask them to pay upfront export processing fees after being provided with documents that look genuine.
And in order to evade detection, the scammers ask those they intend to con to deposit money in client accounts opened by lawyers.
Lawyers
Lawyers are the go-to people for gold scammers who want to avoid detection.
The lawyers operate an escrow where funds are released when the deal is done and dusted.
“The funds owner shall send to the escrow agent a sum of USD 200,000 (one hundred thousand dollars only) hereafter referred to as the ‘escrow’ funds,”
“The said funds shall remain the property of the funds owner until instructions for the release of the said funds are given in writing to the escrow attorney by the funds owner,” says the agreement.” reads a sample of escrow account.
Those who eventually go through the entire process and receive deliveries in their home countries find themselves with worthless pieces of gold-coloured scrap metal.
Most of the cases
Most of the cases about gold scammers never make it to conviction in court after the complainants are frustrated by the police in cahoots with the legal system.
To date no modern-era gold fraudster has been sent to jail. Paul Kobia, for example, a man whom the United Nations named as a mastermind of the fake gold trade — purporting to get the precious metal from the Democratic Republic of Congo — had his charges dropped by the police in unclear circumstances. He has also been involved in gun drama.
Some of the other names in the scam include Steve Mbogo, Babu Owino, John Obia, Steve Oduk, Jared Otieno among others.
