How a Canadian Embassy Impostor Conned Kenyans of Sh51 Million in Elaborate Visa Scam

A Nairobi court has heard how dozens of Kenyans were allegedly defrauded more than Sh51 million by a man who posed as a Canadian Embassy official and promised to secure visas that never materialised, leaving victims stranded, arrested, or turned back during international transit.

Testifying before Milimani trial magistrate Paul Mutai, a former employee of Golden Key Travel Consultants Limited told the court that the firm engaged the accused, Brian Reeves Obare, between March 2022 and November 2023 to facilitate Canadian visa applications for its clients.

The witness, Lidia Nyagala, said Obare was introduced to the company by an intermediary and presented himself as a counsellor attached to the Canadian Embassy. She told the court that she first met him at Embassy House in Nairobi, where he claimed to be a consular official.

Under the arrangement, clients paid Golden Key Travel Consultants, which then forwarded the funds to Obare for what was described as visa processing. The agreed fee per applicant was Sh450,000, with an initial deposit of Sh124,500.

Nyagala said the firm collected passports and a wide range of supporting documents from clients, including identity cards, birth and marriage certificates, academic papers, police clearance certificates, digital photographs, COVID-19 certificates and yellow fever cards. These documents, she testified, were forwarded to Obare together with payments.

Most of the communication with the accused was conducted through phone calls and WhatsApp messages.

Nyagala told the court that Obare would later send documents he claimed were for biometrics, after which he demanded full payment and took possession of clients’ passports.

Despite submitting fewer than 50 passports, none of the applicants ever successfully travelled to Canada. The court heard that some clients were arrested at airports, others were denied boarding, while several were returned to Kenya from transit points in Addis Ababa and Dubai.

Nyagala further testified that Obare later demanded an additional Sh50,000 per client, claiming he had contacts at the airport who could facilitate their departure. Even after the extra payments were made, the visas were eventually crossed out and declared invalid.

Initial efforts to verify the visas with the Canadian Embassy were unsuccessful, but subsequent investigations established that Obare had never worked for any embassy and that none of the visas issued were genuine.

On the financial trail, the witness said payments were made to bank accounts and mobile phone numbers provided by the accused. While total payments were estimated at about Sh82 million, the company could only account for Sh51.2 million through receipts and transaction records produced in court due to missing documentation. She added that Golden Key refunded about Sh34 million to affected clients after the fraud was uncovered.

The matter was first reported to Lang’ata Police Station before being taken over by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. Obare was later arrested after confirmation from the Canadian Embassy that he had no official links to the mission.

During cross-examination, defence lawyers questioned Nyagala’s employment status, the firm’s record-keeping practices, the accuracy of the financial figures, and the authenticity of documents presented as evidence.

Obare is facing charges of obtaining money by false pretences, contrary to Section 313 of the Penal Code, over the alleged fraudulent acquisition of Sh51.2 million from Golden Key Travel Consultants. He is also charged with acquisition of proceeds of crime under the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, linked to the alleged purchase of a Land Rover Discovery using illegally acquired funds.

Additionally, he faces a charge of personation, contrary to Section 382 of the Penal Code, for allegedly posing as a Canadian consular official. The trial continues.