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A Kenyan man has been arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts in connection with defrauding an Australian national of $600,000 (Ksh77.8 million) in a fake gold scheme.
In a statement on Thursday, March 26, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said the suspect Duncan Okaka Okonji was arrested on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
Okonji was then presented in court on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 and was charged with conspiracy to defraud contrary to Section 317 of the Penal Code.
The accused denied the charge and was released on a bond of Ksh5 million or an alternative cash bail of Ksh1 million, with two contact persons.
According to the DCI, the alleged fraud dates back to October 2025, when the complainant, while in Dubai, was introduced to an individual identified as Marshall Morrison, who posed as an American investor.
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Morrison linked the Australian investor to Okonji, who presented himself as a facilitator of a 590 kg gold consignment transaction.
“Investigations further indicate that the complainant was taken to Tanzania, where he was shown purported mining sites, before being brought to Kenya,” DCI stated.
The suspects allegedly staged a series of meetings and prepared documentation to convince the victim that arrangements were underway to ship the gold consignment to Dubai.
The complainant transferred the Ksh77.8 million to the suspects through Conrad Law Advocates LLC after believing the deal was legitimate.
However, suspicions later arose, prompting the Australian national to report the matter to the DCI.
“Believing the transaction to be legitimate, the complainant reportedly transferred USD 600,000 through Conrad Law Advocates LLC before later suspecting fraud and reporting the matter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI),” DCI added.
In a similar incident weeks ago DCI detectives arrested two suspects after defrauding a United States (US) citizen of Ksh28 million in a fake gold deal.
In a statement on Wednesday, February 18, DCI identified the two suspects as Willis Onyango Wasonga and Mohammed Noor Muhyadhin.
The hawkshaws launched an investigation into the fake gold scheme after Oleg Gershonov filed a report with the Capitol Hill police station on behalf of his American business partner, John Sodipo.
According to the DCI, Oleg first visited Kenya in September 2025 to pursue a gold transaction that never materialised. During the trip, Oleg established contacts with Wasonga, who is the prime suspect.
Sodipo then held talks with Wasonga for the purchase and subsequent chartering of 495 kilograms of gold to Dubai.
The US businessmen only realised they had been scammed after the gold shipment failed to arrive within the agreed timeframe.
Wasonga, the prime suspect, presented himself at DCI Headquarters and was arraigned at Milimani Law Courts, where he pleaded not guilty and was granted a bond of Ksh1 Million.
His accomplice, Mohammed Noor, was arrested days later by detectives from DCI’s Operation Support Unit (OSU).
