Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have arrested an Indian national suspected of defrauding an investor USD 1,325,970 (approximately Ksh.172.3 million) in an alleged gold investment scam.
The suspect, identified as Maheshbhai Rameshbhai Bhadra, was arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) shortly after arriving in Kenya from Dubai. According to the DCI, the arrest followed investigations into a complaint by an investor who claimed he had lost the money through a fraudulent gold investment arrangement involving money transfer agents in Kenya and Dubai.
Investigators established that the suspect allegedly used an informal Hawala money-transfer network to facilitate the transaction, convincing the complainant to send the funds in anticipation of receiving a large consignment of gold. The investor was reportedly promised 210 kilogrammes of the precious metal, which formed the basis of the alleged investment deal.
The alleged fraud centred on a tantalising promise: 210 kilograms of gold. Investigations indicate that the complainant was induced to part with the money on the pretext of securing the precious metal, only for the anticipated transaction to fail to materialize,” the DCI said.
However, the promised gold was never delivered, prompting the investor to report the matter to authorities and seek assistance in recovering the money. The subsequent investigations led detectives to identify Bhadra as a suspect in the alleged fraud and track his movements before arresting him upon his arrival at JKIA.
The DCI said the alleged scheme involved agents operating in both Kenya and Dubai, with the Hawala arrangement reportedly used to transfer the funds outside conventional banking channels. Hawala is an informal money-transfer system that relies on a network of brokers to move funds between locations without necessarily transferring physical cash through traditional banks.
The suspect remains in police custody as detectives complete the necessary procedures ahead of his arraignment in court. The arrest marks a development in investigations into the alleged multimillion-shilling fraud, with authorities pursuing the case to establish the full circumstances surrounding the missing money and the failed gold transaction.