Fraudsters Plotted Using NMG in Royal Family Gold Scam

Daily Nation has exposed how fraudsters planned to use the media house in the execution of a gold scam involving the Royal Family in Dubai. 

 Zaheer Jhanda, who claimed to be a local representative of Ali Zandi, who has connections to the Saudi Royal family, wrote to the publication claiming that a consignment of Ksh15 billion worth of gold had been confiscated at JKIA. 

“UN agency officials stopped the cargo from being transported to Dubai,” he said in a string of messages to Nation. 

It all began after Zandi was lured into the country and was taken to one of Jhanda's accomplices who is a well known gold trader. 

The victim was then taken to a warehouse at JKIA and introduced to another suspect, Victor Rosta, who claimed to be an official from the UN. 

They demanded Ksh75 million to facilitate the release of-of the consignment. 

It was at that point that Jhanda contacted Nation to run the story about the 'detained gold'. 

A Senator from Western Kenya was also roped in to convince the businessman that the politician would use his influence to clear the cargo. 

The scam blew up after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) wrote a protest letter asking for the release of gold owed to Zandi.

In hindsight, Nation did not publish Jhanda's claims because doing so would have given him and his accomplices, including a senator from western Kenya, the legitimacy they needed to carry out the fraud.

The increasing rate of gold scam crimes has forced the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to alert foreign embassies in Kenya, to advise their citizens to consult with the Department of Mines and Geology before any transactions.

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