After two months of intensive investigations, a breakthrough occurred in the case of the missing containers, declared to contain tantalum minerals from Congo. A multi-agency task force, probing a case where a Chinese national was defrauded of Sh150 million, intercepted one of the three missing containers.
Detectives uncovered a shift in tactics among fake gold scammers, who previously operated in Nairobi and utilized Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) as their exit point. Now, they are collaborating with cartels in Congo, Uganda, and Kenya, utilizing the Port of Mombasa for their fraudulent activities.
Here’s how the elaborate scam unfolds:
A group stationed in Congo, where tantalum minerals are abundant, initiates contact with the victim, claiming that a deal has been finalized and the minerals are en route to Uganda. In Uganda, another group assures the victim of the consignment’s status. The focus then shifts to the Kenya-Uganda border before culminating in Mombasa, where the victim receives confirmation that the shipment has departed for China.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the victim, the container remains in Mombasa, filled not with tantalum minerals but with sand. The Chinese businessman, upon receiving one of the containers in China, made a startling discovery – it was filled with drums containing sand, not the expected minerals.
Following a lengthy legal process and with the assistance of a court order in Mombasa, the containers were finally opened. Inside, instead of tantalum minerals, investigators found 70 reconditioned metallic drums packed with sand.
Authorities suspect that the container disappeared from the Mombasa Container Terminal (MCT) just before its scheduled shipment to China, where the Chinese national had already paid Ksh.150 million for the minerals.
The multi-agency team also believes that the fake gold scammers, operating across Congo, Uganda, and Kenya, have accomplices within the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
