The Operations Support Unit (OSU) of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has apprehended a prime suspect in the Ksh151 fake minerals.
According to a statement issued on Friday, April 5, the suspect was nabbed in Nairobi Central Business District along Harambee Avenue.
The suspect identified as Ulundu Patrick Lumumba Alias Gabriel Kulonda Alias Lumumba Patrick Byarufu was cornered after evading arrest at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
He was red-listed at the airport and was set to be arrested immediately after landing from Entebbe, Uganda but cleverly evaded the trap set by DCI.
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"Determined to sneak back into the country and further his felonious activities, the suspect used a Ugandan Interstate pass card no. 020841009 in the names of Lumumba Patrick Byarufu, and upon arrest was also found in possession of yet another Congolese Passport number OPO792312 in the names of Patrick Ulundu Lumumba," DCI's statement read in part.
The suspect is believed to have orchestrated a scheme where a Chinese woman was conned Ksh151 million.
"In the case, he is implicated, a female Chinese national lost Sh151 million to the suspect's machinations after one of three containers declared to contain tantalum minerals was opened in China, only to be found loaded with drums of sand, triggering investigations at the port of Mombasa, the transit route," DCI explained.
In the preliminary stages, two 20ft containers also containing sand had been found at the Mombasa port, before hawk-eyed sleuths intercepted a third one (40ft) at a warehouse still at the port. Surprisingly, the 40ft container had passed the entire verification process without any documentation. This totalled to six, the number of containers of sand declared as tantalum minerals.
Detectives have since discovered that already two more containers had been cleared and shipped to Dubai, and efforts are underway to have them intercepted.
Some port officials believed to have compromised security checks to facilitate the illegal transactions are also being investigated.
At the moment, the bank accounts of the arrested prime suspect have been frozen.
