Nelly
Member
A Kenyan man has been arrested in connection with a fake gold scam that saw an investor based in Mumbai, India lose nearly Sh200 million.
Hezbon Nyabola, who was masquerading as a Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) official, was apprehended by detectives attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The Indian investor named Malian Sanjay was reportedly duped by a Guinea-Bissauan man identified as Cavalho Lopes that he would sell him 44.45 Kgs of gold valued at $1,780,000.
Sanjay paid the amount for the gold consignment that was supposed to be shipped from Guinea Bissau through Kigali, Rwanda where it would be loaded on a plane to India via the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.
A few days after receiving information from Lopes that the shipment was on transit to Nairobi, Sanjay received a call from a person purporting to be a KRA official, who informed him that the package had been detained at JKIA for non-payment of customs duty.
“The caller identified as Hezbon Nyabola informed him that his consignment Airway Bill No706-27720626 had been detained at JKIA for non-payment of customs duty. As a result, Sanjay sent him, a further $26,700 to clear the consignment and facilitate its shipment,” DCI said in a report.
Sanjay did not realize that he had been scammed until the gold failed to arrive in India within the agreed time.
He became suspicious and sought the assistance of DCI detectives, who immediately moved in and recovered the consignment at JKIA.
“However, upon inspection what was supposed to be gold worth close to Sh200 million was discovered to be river bed pebbles that were neatly arranged in a box,” DCI added.
Nyabola is being held in lawful custody pending arraignment for obtaining money by false pretenses.
Hezbon Nyabola, who was masquerading as a Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) official, was apprehended by detectives attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The Indian investor named Malian Sanjay was reportedly duped by a Guinea-Bissauan man identified as Cavalho Lopes that he would sell him 44.45 Kgs of gold valued at $1,780,000.
Sanjay paid the amount for the gold consignment that was supposed to be shipped from Guinea Bissau through Kigali, Rwanda where it would be loaded on a plane to India via the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.
A few days after receiving information from Lopes that the shipment was on transit to Nairobi, Sanjay received a call from a person purporting to be a KRA official, who informed him that the package had been detained at JKIA for non-payment of customs duty.
“The caller identified as Hezbon Nyabola informed him that his consignment Airway Bill No706-27720626 had been detained at JKIA for non-payment of customs duty. As a result, Sanjay sent him, a further $26,700 to clear the consignment and facilitate its shipment,” DCI said in a report.
Sanjay did not realize that he had been scammed until the gold failed to arrive in India within the agreed time.
He became suspicious and sought the assistance of DCI detectives, who immediately moved in and recovered the consignment at JKIA.
“However, upon inspection what was supposed to be gold worth close to Sh200 million was discovered to be river bed pebbles that were neatly arranged in a box,” DCI added.
Nyabola is being held in lawful custody pending arraignment for obtaining money by false pretenses.