American investor Charles Blake was lured into a Sh500 million loan scheme for African agricultural projects, only to be pressured into paying Sh98.7 million in "life insurance premiums" to local accounts that were emptied almost immediately.
A businessman has suffered a setback after the High Court declined to halt his arrest and prosecution for his alleged involvement in a Sh500 million fraud scheme targeting an American investor.
The High Court in Nairobi ruled that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) were acting within their statutory and constitutional mandates in investigating a complaint lodged by Mr Charles Blake against businessman Collins Juma Oloo.
“I am not satisfied that this court should, at this stage, prohibit the respondents from investigating alleged crimes, whether or not Mr Oloo is a director of Toureg Insurance Agency. I therefore decline to grant the stay orders sought,” the court ruled.
Instead, the court advised the businessman to present himself to the DCI for interrogation or to seek anticipatory bail before a court exercising criminal jurisdiction. Mr Oloo is wanted in connection with the alleged Sh500 million fraud scheme against Mr Blake.
He is one of 14 individuals and companies against whom the Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court issued wide-ranging search warrants as investigations into the alleged international fraud intensified.
The detectives were authorised to seize documents, electronic storage devices, computers, mobile phones, servers and any other materials relevant to the inquiry for forensic analysis.
The orders, issued on October 30, 2025, listed Mr Oloo and 13 others, including Toureg Insurance Agency, an entity from which Mr Oloo has distanced himself.
Investigations into the alleged fraud began after Mr Blake, a director of Nutra-Acres LLC, a Texas-based company, lodged a complaint with Kenyan authorities.
According to the complaint, a US-based broker in June 2024 introduced Mr Blake to a Kenyan firm that claimed it could arrange a Sh500 million loan for his agricultural projects in Africa.
After months of online negotiations, Mr Blake travelled to Nairobi, where he met representatives of the Kenyan firm. He was allegedly informed that he needed to obtain a life insurance policy through Toureg Insurance Agency in order to qualify for the loan.
Investigators say the investor made several payments between June 2024 and January 2025, totalling Sh98.7 million, to bank accounts linked to the suspects and their associated companies. The funds were allegedly withdrawn or transferred to other accounts shortly thereafter.
Mr Blake never received the promised loan and subsequently reported the matter to the police. Several suspects have since been arrested, with police declaring Mr Oloo a wanted person in connection with the alleged fraud.
On December 5, Mr Oloo moved to court seeking leave to apply for judicial review orders challenging the decisions by the ODPP and the DCI to investigate and charge him jointly with others on various criminal counts.
He told the court that he is currently in Dubai, while other persons of interest in the alleged offences of obtaining money by false pretences have already been charged. He said search warrants had been obtained and executed against them by courts in Kahawa.
Mr Oloo said he had learnt through media reports of proceedings before the Kahawa courts in which David Onyango Ochanda and others are answering to charges arising from Mr Blake’s complaint, including conspiracy to defraud, obtaining money by false pretences, money laundering and related offences.
“Following the said charges, I have further learnt that a manhunt has been declared against me and that a stop order has been issued to the immigration authorities in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, directing my interception and arrest should I attempt to travel to Kenya,” he said.
Mr Oloo argued that the accusations against him were based on the erroneous assertion that he is a director of Toureg Insurance Agency Limited.
He maintained that he is not a director or shareholder of the company and has no affiliation with it that would warrant his inclusion in the investigations or intended charges.
“I am presently in Dubai on lawful business engagements but am unable to return to Kenya due to the imminent and unlawful threat of arrest, detention and prosecution based on false, unverified and misleading information linking me to offences with which I have no connection,” he said.
He further argued that he had been unlawfully linked to criminal conduct he neither committed nor had the capacity to influence. He contended that the DCI and ODPP’s intention to arrest and charge him was founded on a grave misapprehension of facts, mistaken identity and reliance on inaccurate and unverified information.
“I am apprehensive that my right to liberty is in imminent jeopardy and that, unless protected by this court, I stand to suffer unlawful arrest, detention, reputational harm and violations of my fundamental rights and freedoms due to a manifest error and abuse of the criminal justice process,” Mr Oloo said.
The court considered the application and certified it as urgent, directing that it be heard expeditiously.
“The substantive motion shall be filed and served upon the respondents and the interested party within 21 days of today,” the court ordered.
While granting Mr Oloo leave to apply for judicial review, the court declined to allow the application to operate as a stay against the decisions by the DCI and the ODPP to arrest and prosecute him.
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