Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have nabbed two suspects, Julius Kirimi Muthuri, a Kenyan national, and Richard Olaf Heinig, a German citizen, in connection with a scam that defrauded a Swiss national of Ksh52 million ($403000).
The duo were arrested in a hotel in Nairobi just as they were preparing to fleece the victim further.
The victim, a Swiss national, was allegedly scammed for several years after being misled into believing that his father had left a large sum of money in Ghana.
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His father, who had worked in Ghana, supposedly sold property there two decades ago, leaving the proceeds under the custody of a trustee.
In pursuit of this inheritance, the Swiss national was introduced to a Ghanaian woman, Mamee Efua Esong, in 2020.
She claimed to be familiar with the father’s business dealings. She confirmed that USD 62.8 million was available for transfer to the victim’s home country.
However, to access the funds, the victim was duped into establishing a particular purpose company for the transfer.
The scam stretched across several countries, including Ghana, Dubai, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya, with the victim making numerous payments for taxes and facilitation fees along the way.
While in Kenya, the Swiss national met Richard Olaf Heinig, who introduced him to Julius Muthuri Kirimi in November 2023.
Muthuri posed as the owner of Lawsam Security Company, allegedly hired to transport and store the “cargo” at Nairobi’s airport.
Claiming that the cargo had been inspected and stored, the scammers later denied the victim access to the containers, demanding an additional USD 400,000 in facilitation fees.
After spending an enormous amount of money across several countries, the victim realized he had been conned and filed a complaint with the Kenyan Mission in Switzerland.
The matter was then referred to the DCI through the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, prompting an investigation that led to arrests.
The DCI has sternly warned individuals in fraudulent activities, emphasizing that their operations will not go unpunished.
“The Directorate of Criminal Investigations sends a strong warning to anyone whose mission is to reap where they have not sown, that their days are numbered,” the DCI said in a statement.
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