Nashon Otieno Angudha, a key suspect in a series of frauds affecting local and foreign gold merchants, has been arraigned at Milimani Law Courts, Nairobi.
Nashon was arrested on Tuesday evening for obtaining Ksh35 million ($269000) from a businessman in a fake gold scam.
In the fraudulent scheme orchestrated on diverse dates between July 13 and October 18, 2023, the 28-year-old is accused of swindling the victim out of the millions by luring him to a purchase and export deal of 100kg of gold to Dubai.
The accused allegedly obtained millions from the victim under the guise of covering transportation and insurance costs for the transaction.
After parting with the money paid in US dollars ($250,000), nine gold bars given to the victim as collateral were subjected to a test at the Ministry of Mining, but none of them exhibited even a trace of gold element.
“Nashon then holed up leaving the businessman devastated and poorer, thereby seeking the intervention of law enforcers,” said the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
“Acting on intelligence, the Operation Support Unit (OSU) detectives conducted a stealth operation at Crystal Spring Apartments in Lavington, Nairobi, managing to net the suspect while in his KDM 523Q Toyota Prado. Crucial exhibits including radio sets and cheque books were seized from the vehicle.”
Nashon has been charged with conspiracy to commit a felony and obtaining money by false pretences.
He pleaded not guilty to both charges and has been remanded until Friday, April 14, 2024, when a bond determination will be made.
The prosecution opposed Nashon’s release on bond because of his criminal record. They stated that he was involved in a violent robbery case at Kibera Court No.
5, in which he and two others robbed a foreign couple of more than USD90,000 while visiting the country for a gold transaction.
In the October 28, 2023 case, Nashon Otieno, Jack Ouma Okwiri and Felix Ochieng’ Nyongesa lured an Australian man and his Ugandan wife to an office setup in the Runda suburbs before turning against the couple.
The man had been beaten up and the wife sexually assaulted before the gang robbed and dumped them at Rehema House in Nairobi CBD.
After days of relentless manhunt, the three were arrested at the Social House Nairobi Hotel in the Lavington area and arraigned at Kibera Law Courts on November 9, 2023, charged with robbery with violence.
They were released on a Ksh1 million ($7700) bond with an alternative of Ksh300,000 ($2300) cash bail.
