Dig Into Flashy But Brutal World Of Fake Gold Kingpin

Despite having two active court cases and being under investigation for various gold scam cases, flashy businessman Nahashon Otieno Angundha has continued with his fraudulent deals unabated.

The suspect who appeared in court yesterday for one of the fraud cases has been implicated in another scam where the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) say he and his accomplices defrauded two Dubai-based businessmen.

On Tuesday afternoon, detectives from the DCI’s Operations Support Unit (OSU) conducted three simultaneous operations at Angundha’s premises and arrested a total of 31 suspects.

“Masquerading as genuine dealers in the precious metal, the suspects had on diverse dates in September 2024, paraded coated of-base metals to hoodwink and lure the two foreigners into a business deal, thereafter defrauding them of thousands of dollars,” the DCI said.

According to the detectives, after several trips to the scammers’ offices in the country, the victims became suspicious following a botched transaction.

During Tuesday’s operation, detectives discovered metal boxes containing fake gold nuggets and bars, four motor vehicles, several radio sets, fake stamps and authorisation certificates for various ministries in the government, among others. Another fake document in possession of the detectives is a Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) receipt for payment of USD3,465 and East African Community (EAC)

Mineral Export Certificate.

“The suspected leader of the syndicate, Nashon Otieno Angudha, is a serial fraudster who has two similar active cases in court,” the DCI said.

Yesterday, Angundha appeared at Milimani Law Courts for a mention of his case where he was charged with conspiracy to defraud and robbery with violence. Alongside Felix Ochieng Nyongesa and Jack Ouma Okwiri, he was charged with attacking an Australian and his Ugandan wife whom they had intended to defraud.

Nashon Otieno Angudha

The suspects had lured the couple into the country for a business deal in Nairobi. A contact person who identified himself as ‘Raymond from England’ had days earlier connected the couple with Nyongesa, who posed as the seller.

Export deal

On October 23 last year, he met the couple at the Village Market in Gigiri. He then sent a driver to pick them up and took them to their office along Glory Road in Runda. While at the office they allegedly attacked the couple, handcufed them and robbed them of USD60,000 (about Sh7.7 million) and jewellery valued at around USD30,000 (Sh3.8m).

They were then driven to town and dumped at Rehema House from where they were rushed to hospital by members of the public.

Detectives are also investigating another case where it is suspected that the suspect uttered a letter indicating that a gold sample was a 97.6 per cent gold. An independent probe revealed that the samples were 58.59 per cent copper.

The probe further seeks to establish the relationship between the suspect and a company that allegedly sold 20kilogrammes of gold to a foreigner, Svend Christensen, through Malawi.

In yet another case, the 28-year-old suspect was accused of taking part in scheme orchestrated to swindle a victim out of the millions by luring him to a purchase and export deal of 100 kilogrammes of gold to Dubai. Angudha then gave the victim nine gold bars as collateral.

“It was after this exchange that the bars were subjected to a test at the Ministry of Mining, but none of them exhibited even a trace of gold element,” the DCI said.