State seeks court's help to recover millions of cash from gold racket

By Paul Ogemba   

The Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) has unearthed a multi-million-shilling fake gold scheme disguised as timber export to Europe. The racket involves a group of Kenyan, Zambian and Cameroonian businessmen and a top law firm the agency claims is being used as a conduit to receive money from unsuspecting foreign nationals before the loot is hurriedly shared out.

In January alone, ARA says the businessmen received Sh157 million from a Dutchman on the promise that they will deliver gold while hiding under the pretext that they were exporting timber to the Netherlands.

“We established that they are involved in an intricate money-laundering scheme executed with the intent of defrauding foreign nationals on the pretence that they have gold for sale while hiding behind falsified bank documents showing they are

engaged in timber export,” said ARA.

The details emerged in a suit filed by ARA yesterday seeking to compel Zambian nationals Bupe Chipando, Carrolle Simutengu and their company First Line Capital Ltd to forfeit Sh25 million to the State for being proceeds of crime.

It is the second suit in seven days after ARA filed a similar suit last week against Cameroonian Eddy Michel Malonga, Mubadala Merchants Ltd and First Cargo Logistics to recover Sh50 million they allegedly acquired through the international money laundering scheme.

According to the agency, the money shared out between the businessmen and their companies was part of the Sh157 million wired from a company in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in what is suspected to be an intricate international money laundering scheme.

The agency submitted that the businessmen through their companies executed a complex scheme of money laundering designed to conceal and disguise the movement of the illicit funds which were then transferred to their personal accounts.

“To facilitate movement of the funds to their personal accounts, they used agreements supported by falsified custom declaration forms purportedly from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) as proof that they were engaged in timber importation while we suspect the money was for fake hold trade,” said ARA.

ARA lead investigator swore that the Zambian nationals and their company were part of the fake gold fraudsters who received more than Sh728 million from unsuspecting foreigners between May 2019 and January 2021, but that some of the money could not be traced.

He swore that the principal amount of Sh157 million was wired from Bernhardten Ltd in the Netherlands to a bank account at Sidian Bank held by Ochieng Opiyo and Company Advocates after which the law firm shared the money to the various companies.

“Investigations established that Sh71.5 million was transferred from the account held by Ochieng Opiyo Advocates to another account held by First Line Capital Ltd owned by the two Zambian businessmen while declaring that it was payment to purchase timber for export,” said ARA.

The other amounts were allegedly shared with Peva Cargo Ltd and Mubadala Merchants Ltd, where each got Sh47.7 million and Sh37.6 million respectively.

According to the documents filed in court by the agency, Kenyan businessman Elvis Ouma Muga is the sole director and signatory of Mubadala Merchants Ltd.

“Investigations revealed that the money was then transferred to other entities and marked as payments of clearing charges for shipment of timber to Rotterdam Port in the Netherlands,” said the investigator.

When they asked KRA about the custom declaration forms, the authority stated that they were fake since the invoices were not registered or generated from their systems.

According to ARA, Mubadala Merchants Ltd provided a sale agreement with a Dutch company for which it received Sh37 million to supply exotic timber but said details were aimed at disguising the source of funds since the firm is registered as a supplier of electronic products.