Businessman Kevin Obia was on Wednesday, August 4 2021 sentenced to one year jail in the Ksh13 million fake gold case.
Milimani Law Courts Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi found Obia guilty of attempting to defraud Austrian national, Christian Gallati, Ksh13.7 million purporting to be in a position to sell him 7kgs of gold.
The Magistrate also gave Obia an option of Ksh300,000 fine noting that there was another wanted suspect who played a bigger role in the scam identified as Jared Otieno.
In his defence, Obia had told the court that he was framed by the police and that he knew nothing about the fake gold deal.
Obia further stated that he has never handled gold and neither was he in the precious metal business. He narrated in court that on the day of his arrest, he was driven to a city hotel by his driver, Samuel Ndung’u Muturi, to attend some business meetings.
The businessman stated that he had a brief meeting at the hotel but was ambushed and arrested immediately after the guests left.
Obia told the court that the officers who arrested him booked him at Central Police Station and charged him for being in the fake gold business.
Kenya has been on the spotlight over numerous cases of fake gold with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) cautioning investors to do due diligence before engaging in any transaction.
On Sunday, June 27, 2021, the DCI announced it had unearthed a new scheme in which fake gold scammers are using Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to defraud unsuspecting individuals.
In a statement, the directorate indicated that the scammers have settled on Swissport freight since it provides ground and cargo handling services in major airports across the globe.
They are said to store their fake consignments at the freight located at JKIA so as to avoid detection by detectives.
In a clever gold scam that has seen businessmen from across the world lose hundreds of millions of shillings, the cons have been luring unsuspecting investors to view the gold at the customs offices at JKIA, the region’s preferred international aviation hub.
