The Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) are yet to charge notorious gold fraudster Abbas Omoyuma more than two months after his highly publicised arrest over a Sh37 million scam, which the DCI termed as a breakthrough in the fight against organised crime in the country.
This is as a second case where he is accused of defrauding a Belgian citizen of Sh8 million in 2021 continues to drag in court for the fifth year now due to a supposed lack of witnesses, raising questions about possible collusion between law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and gold fraudsters, which has allowed them to operate freely despite numerous high-profile arrests.
In the latest case, Abbass alias Yuri Sandr Ismael, who is considered one of the most wanted fraudsters in Kenya was arrested along Dennis Pritt road on September 17 in connection with a sophisticated fake gold scam that defrauded a Canadian investor of USD 280,000 (approx. KSh 43 million).
“Ishmael’s arrest comes on the heels of a formal complaint made on September 1, 2025. Together with an accomplice who remains at large, Ishmael orchestrated a sophisticated con, luring the unsuspecting investor with promises of 550 kg of gold nuggets and bars purportedly sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo,” the DCI announced at the time of arrest.
“Believing he was entering into a legitimate business deal, the investor transferred USD 280,000 via USDT, only to find himself empty-handed; no gold ever materialised as promised,” said the DCI.
The DCI further said that, “Ishmael is undergoing processing pending his arraignment. Meanwhile, detectives are hot on the trail of his accomplice, who is still at large.”
Our sources have, however, told us that when this statement was being made, Abbas was being held at Capital Hill Police Station and there was every intention within the police system to charge him. He, however, walked free on the same day after the leaders of the network of gold fraudsters that he belongs to intervened directly through a senator from Rift Valley with top leadership within the DCI and the DPP.
It is now 10 weeks since Abbas was arrested for the fraud and almost three months since the case was reported at the DCI headquarters along Kiambu road on September 1. As it is there are no indications whether the DCI or the DPP have an intention to proceed with the matter. We understand that the junior officers who were following the case were told to back off and the file was taken over by their seniors, who have chosen to look the other way.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that Abbas, who is a Congolese national by the way who is living and committing crime in Nairobi, is getting away with his crimes.
In 2022, Abbas was arrested for obtaining USD 54,550 (Sh8,182,500) in Nairobi by making a false claim that he could provide 15 kilogrammes of gold. In the fraudulent transaction, he was charged with defrauding Belgian investor Yvan De Coninck.
The trial, initially set before Magistrate Robinson Ondieki, was postponed after he failed to appear. The case was then rescheduled to September 23, 2022 by Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Benmark Ekhubi, who stepped in for Ondieki.
Since then, the case has mysteriously disappeared in the corridors of justice.
