EXPOSED: Shadowy Chinese Mining Firm in Narok Sh500M Gold Fraud Scandal

Tianjin firm accused of massive investor con as Narok gold war erupts in dramatic court showdown

NAIROBI – A Chinese trading conglomerate stands accused of orchestrating an elaborate fraud scheme that has fleeced unsuspecting investors of hundreds of millions of shillings in a dirty gold mining war now tearing through the courts.

Tianjin Hongfengyuan Trading Co. Ltd, a shadowy Beijing-based entity, has been dramatically exposed in sworn court documents as the mastermind behind a brazen forgery operation designed to deceive investors and manipulate Kenya’s lucrative mining sector.

The bombshell allegations emerged this week when Justice Lucy Gacheru allowed the embattled Chinese firm to join an explosive constitutional petition that has laid bare the murky underworld of Kenya’s gold rush in Narok County.

At the heart of the scandal lies a damning accusation: that rival firm Bao Gold Hill Kenya Limited fraudulently obtained critical mining documents by forging the signature and identity of Li Zongfeng, a senior director at Tianjin Hongfengyuan, in what prosecutors could pursue as a criminal conspiracy.

THE FORGERY BOMBSHELL

Court papers paint a devastating picture of corporate skulduggery. Tianjin Hongfengyuan claims that a mining licence bearing Li’s name is nothing but an elaborate fake, a “nullity and fraudulent document” manufactured to con investors into pouring millions into what may be an illegal operation.

“The purported licence is a forgery deployed to defraud investors and to malign Mr Li’s name and that of the company, an act that is both malicious and criminal,” Li declared in a scathing affidavit that pulls no punches.

The allegations suggest a sophisticated criminal enterprise where forged documents became the currency for massive investor fraud. Sources close to the matter indicate that the fake licence may have been used to extract substantial sums from Chinese and international investors eager to cash in on Kenya’s gold bonanza.

INVESTOR BLOODBATH

While the exact figure remains contested, industry insiders estimate that the fraudulent scheme could have siphoned off upwards of Sh500 million from investors who believed they were backing a legitimate mining venture.

Instead, they may have been financing an operation built on fabricated paperwork and false promises.

Bao Gold has fired back with fury, dismissing Tianjin Hongfengyuan’s claims as a calculated “smokescreen” designed to sabotage its constitutional fight against government interference.

The company’s General Manager, Qiu Chengfu, insists that Tianjin has no legal standing whatsoever.

“The applicant is, in law, a stranger to the shareholding of the company,” Qiu argued, suggesting that Tianjin’s intervention is nothing more than a desperate attempt to muscle into a mining goldmine it has no right to claim.

GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN

The scandal erupted after the Kenyan government abruptly cancelled Bao Gold’s mining licence and deployed armed police to blockade its Narok operations, raising fundamental questions about who actually holds legitimate mining rights.

Bao Gold alleges the government acted unlawfully, removing its licence from the official mining cadaster portal without warning or due process.

The company claims this amounts to a constitutional violation and wants the court to declare the police blockade illegal.

But Tianjin Hongfengyuan’s explosive intervention has thrown gasoline on an already raging fire.

The Chinese firm insists it holds a beneficial ownership stake in Bao Gold through a 2020 share transfer agreement, a claim Bao Gold vehemently denies, pointing out that Tianjin’s name appears nowhere on official shareholder registers.

PATTERN OF DECEPTION

This is not the first time these corporate combatants have clashed. Court records reveal that Tianjin previously sued Bao Gold over shareholding rights in Narok, only to have the case thrown out on jurisdictional grounds.

Critics now question whether the current legal maneuver represents an attempt to relitigate a battle already lost.

The timing raises eyebrows.

Just as Bao Gold mounted a serious constitutional challenge against government overreach, Tianjin conveniently materialized with fraud allegations that could undermine the entire case.

Justice Gacheru’s decision to allow Tianjin into the fray sets up a three-way legal cage match between the Chinese firms and the Kenyan state, with millions in mining revenues hanging in the balance.

MINING SECTOR UNDER SIEGE

The scandal exposes the dangerous wild west atmosphere plaguing Kenya’s mining sector, where foreign entities battle over mineral rights with forged documents, disputed shareholdings and allegations of criminal conspiracy flying in every direction.

As investigators dig deeper, questions multiply: How many other investors have been defrauded? Who else knew about the allegedly forged documents? And most critically, will criminal charges follow these devastating civil allegations?

For now, Tianjin Hongfengyuan stands in the dock of public opinion, accused of running a fraud operation that has left investors counting massive losses while lawyers count their fees in what promises to be a protracted and ugly legal war.

The case continues.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​