A man suspected to be a member of a fake gold syndicate in Eldoret was on Friday charged with defrauding a trader of Sh4 million.
Paul Wekesa Barasa appeared before Principal Magistrate Naomi Wairimu and was charged with obtaining money by false pretence.
Court documents show that Mr Barasa defrauded Ann Minoo Mburu of Sh4 million by falsely pretending that he was in a position to supply her with an artefact made of pure gold, which turned out to be a bogus deal.
The court heard that the accused committed the offence on diverse dates between May 5 and August 8, 2021 in Eldoret.
He denied the charges and implored the court to release him on lenient bond terms, claiming that he was not a flight risk but a law-abiding citizen.
But prosecutors proposed stiffer bond terms, urging the court to consider the amount of money the complainant lost in the scam. They claimed cases of residents being conned by fraudsters masquerading as genuine traders in clean gold were becoming rampant in Eldoret.
The magistrate directed the accused to be released on a Sh2 million bond, with no alternative cash bail.
The matter will be mentioned on Thursday next week to ascertain whether the suspect was provided with the necessary documents ahead of a pretrial hearing.
In November 2021, an Eldoret court found two men guilty of dealing in fake gold and sentenced them to 18 months in jail, with an alternative fine of Sh100,000 each.
Saleh Osage Madjebe alias Swale and Cornelius Kigen Kiprop alias Victor Kiprotich were also charged with obtaining Sh48,000 from an Eldoret trader by pretending that they could sell him real gold.
A similar case is going on in the same court where a Nandi County Assembly member was conned of Sh800,000 by three people who purported to be in a position to sell him gold valued at Sh5 million.
“Someone who purported to know me very well called me and informed me about the good deal she had and convinced me, since she was communicating in my mother tongue fluently,” said Mr Jack Kevolua, the MCA.
A majority of fake gold dealers are men and women living opulent lives and driving expensive cars and who can afford expensive lawyers to represent them.
