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UK pursues fraudster in Sh219m scandal believed to be in Kenya
Shah, a former bank employee, used forged documents, fake Credit Suisse wealth statements, and "trust networks" to secure massive loans from elite financiers that he never intended to repay.
British authorities have issued an arrest warrant for convicted fraudster Pritesh Ashok Shah, believed to be living in Nairobi, after a court in the United Kingdom found he orchestrated a $1.7 million (Sh219.3 million) deception spanning London’s elite finance
Court records show Mr Shah, a former banker, was convicted at Southwark Crown Court in November 2025 on multiple counts of fraud, forgery and perverting the course of justice. He did not attend his trial or sentencing, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
UK Prosecutors said he exploited trust networks, fabricated wealth and used forged documents to secure loans he never repaid in breach of a section of the country’s Fraud Act 2006.
Investigators now believe he may be in Kenya, where bankruptcy filings list a Spring Valley address in Nairobi, raising concerns about cross-border enforcement.
The case traces a sophisticated fraud spanning London finance circles and extending to Nairobi, where Mr Shah, 54, is understood to have lived in recent years, including an address in Spring Valley, with his wife and two children.
Scheme built on proximity to wealth and lies
Prosecutors say Shah built his scheme on reputation, proximity to wealth, and carefully constructed lies. He operated within tight-knit business and social circles, leveraging trust among wealthy associates and financiers.
At the centre of the case is a pattern. Documents show that Mr Shah repeatedly portrayed himself as independently wealthy, with imminent access to family trusts, large bonuses, or investment returns that would quickly repay loans.
Those claims were false, according to investigators. They say he borrowed heavily from multiple individuals between 2012 and 2015, often at the same time, while telling each lender a different version of his finances.
One victim, a US financier and entrepreneur, loaned Mr Shah $200,000 in 2012 after being told he would soon access substantial family wealth. The financier said he trusted Shah’s apparent connections and lifestyle.
“I only felt comfortable lending Mr Shah $200,000 despite him asking me for $500,000. I didn’t have a written loan agreement in place with Mr Shah because I trusted that I was dealing with someone with integrity and I was convinced that the money I was lending Mr Shah wasn’t a lot of money for him,” said the financier who has bases in Ghana, the US and the UK.
Shah repaid only $70,000, which prosecutors say likely came from funds obtained from another victim. He then stopped responding altogether. When pressed, Shah sent Mills a fabricated email purporting to confirm a £100,000 payment from a Jersey trust company. It was later proven to be a forgery.
The deception deepened within the Oshwal community, where longstanding family ties and business relationships underpinned financial dealings.
An investment adviser who had worked closely with Shah’s father advanced him $1.2 million through a company, Rossfield Limited, in November 2012.
The loan was based on assurances that Shah would receive a multi-million-dollar bonus from Credit Suisse within weeks. That representation was false.
In reality, evidence showed Shah earned about £70,000 annually, with modest bonuses nowhere near the sums he claimed.
The court heard that Shah stated that the reason why he borrowed the $1.2 million from Rossfield was to invest in Invictus Africa and that the failure of that investment was the reason that he could no longer pay it back.
Despite signing a formal loan agreement, Shah never repaid the money.
Instead, he deployed a cycle of delays and deception. He repeatedly claimed funds had been transferred, citing banking errors, incomplete SWIFT details, or pending confirmations.
On several occasions, he provided false payment references and fabricated transfer documents to sustain the illusion of imminent repayment.
Reversing reality
In a tactic investigators describe as particularly brazen, Mr Shah even told creditors that they owed him money, reversing the reality to buy time.
A third victim, a Swiss financier, was drawn into the scheme through professional contacts between April 2015 and September 2016.
Mr Shah secured loans totalling $584,000 using forged documents, including a falsified Vodafone bill to support a prestigious London address and a fake wealth statement.
He also relied on assurances from his father, who told the lender Shah had millions held in trust. None of the loans were repaid.
Across all transactions, prosecutors estimate the fraud exceeded $1.7 million, with evidence suggesting additional victims who have not come forward.
The illusion of wealth was central to the scheme as Mr Shah maintained a lifestyle of luxury, including exclusive golf memberships and expensive travel, which reinforced his credibility among targets.
“He went on expensive holidays, belonged to exclusive golf clubs and appeared to enjoy the trappings of great wealth. It appears that this lifestyle was funded by money defrauded from others without either the means or the intention to pay the money back,” the court summary reads.
That lifestyle, prosecutors argue, was sustained using funds obtained from the very people he deceived.
The fraud extended into court proceedings. During bankruptcy hearings in 2018, Mr Shah told a High Court judge, Deputy ICC Judge Schaffer, under oath that he had invested the $1.2 million loan in an African venture, Invictus Africa. This is the money he borrowed from Rossfield.
He claimed the investment collapsed, explaining his inability to repay.
That statement was found to be false because evidence showed no such investment existed, and the fund’s founder confirmed Shah had neither invested nor raised money for the venture.
The court found this amounted to an attempt to mislead the judiciary, forming the basis of a separate charge of perverting the course of justice.
Declared bankrupt
Mr Shah had earlier been declared bankrupt in 2017 following proceedings initiated by Rossfield after years of missed repayments and repeated assurances.
The conviction in 2025 consolidated years of allegations into a formal finding of criminal conduct.
The UK authorities now believe Mr Shah is outside their jurisdiction and have issued an arrest warrant as efforts begin to trace him. They are seeking his arrest as part of ongoing efforts to recover assets and pursue sentencing, with investigators tracing links to Nairobi as a possible haven where his extended family resides.
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