Unmasked: These foreign crooks have turned Kenya into criminal playground

Police have unmasked a fake diplomat they believe is running a transnational gold racket from Kenya.
The fake diplomat is among foreign crooks who live flashy lifestyles but are fugitives engaging in human trafficking, extortion, obtaining by false pretense, hacking, scamming, money laundering, gun running, drug trafficking and sexual exploitation, among other serious crimes.

Abdoulay Al Bauchiry Mohammed: Mali

Abdoulay Al Bauchiry Mohammed claims to be Malian, but was arrested after an Australian national complained to police that he had been conned more than Sh69 million in a fake gold scam.  

Abdoulay Al Bauchiry Mohammed

Hwalla Karim claims he bought the gold in Mali last September for about Sh63 million but his precious cargo could not be shipped directly to Lebanon following a coup d’état against Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. Due to the political impasse in Mali, Karim sought assistance from diplomatic circles and was introduced to one Yali Kou who volunteered to transfer the gold to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

But Karim was later informed that custom officials in Ethiopia had detained the gold until certain conditions were met.
That is when Mohammed appeared on the scene in an enticing but complex syndicate. 

Chris Mugisha: Burundi

Karim nursed hopes that the gold deal was genuine after Mohammed and his Burundian accomplice Chris Mugisha were arrested and held at Parklands Police Station. To earn their freedom, they assured Karim that his gold was safe at a clearing and forwarding firm within Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

“Sir I beg you set them free; they have told me I will get my gold immediately they are released,” Karim told Parklands DCIO David Chebii while pleading to have Mohammed and Mugisha set free. Chebii, however, declined and instead directed his officers to escort the complainant and his accused to JKIA where it was established that there was no gold.

Before the airport tour, Chebii cautioned Karim: “I am sure the suspects are lying to you, but for the benefit of doubt and to clear any doubts, I grant your wish,” said the DCIO.

Chris Mugisha.

 

At JKIA, Karim and the police team were taken in circles until the operation was called off. The suspects were returned into custody while a crestfallen Karim flew out the same evening.

When Mohammed first came into contact with Karim, he had introduced himself as a United Nations (UN) diplomat in Kenya and would thus easily assist him to re-route the gold into Kenya courtesy of his diplomatic immunity.

In reality, Karim was entangling himself into a financial mess with smart and sophisticated gold scammers who have turned Nairobi into their criminal playground. The Australian had been assured his gold embargoed in Addis Ababa would reach Nairobi en-route to its destination, Beirut in Lebanon.

But there was an obstacle when the cargo landed at JKIA. Karim was informed there was a documentation hitch holding it and Mohammed requested him to fly to Kenya to facilitate ‘smooth clearance’. He was asked to cough an additional $6, 4500 (Sh6.4 million) owed to Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

Savannah Global Freight Forwarders was given the amount in dollars to clear the gold. Mugisha, posing as its director, received the cash. Karim was issued with a commitment letter and copy of KRA clearance, which he later discovered was fake.

He reported the matter at Parklands Police Station. Detectives swung into action. Mohammed and Mugisha were arrested. The sleuths raided Mugisha’s office at Delights Apartment in Kilimani, recovering documents used in conning gullible gold buyers. Six fake gold bars, two pieces of forceps and two embossing seals were also found in his house.

“We have confirmed from the Diplomatic Police Unit the purported identification document in his possession is fake. We are trying to establish his nationality but from preliminary investigations, he is a member of a transnational gold syndicate,” said the officer, who also heads  the Anti-Counterfeit Investigations Unit.

Yussuf Daniel Masara, alias Dr Ibrahim Sacko: Nigeria

In February, police in Kilimani arrested 55-year-old Nigerian Yussuf Daniel Masara, alias Dr Ibrahim Sacko for defrauding an American businessman Elrais Ahmed Mohamed of Sh17.6 million in a 50 kg fake gold deal.
Some foreigners are deported only to resurface later. Like Doctta Peter Longa who was deported to Cameroon in 2018 but sneaked back the following year. He was re-arrested and released on a Sh50,000 cash bail to the chagrin of Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) boss George Kinoti.

Eric Tchunouneneu Ouafo: Cameroon

On January 27, 2021, the High Court blocked deportion of Eric Tchunouneneu Ouafo, another Cameroonian businessman police claimed was operating a fake gold scam in Nairobi. And in 2014, police arrested 77 Chinese nationals who had established a communication centre with equipment capable of infiltrating bank accounts, M-Pesa mobile banking system and ATM machines, according to then DCI chief Ndegwa Muhoro.

Christian Kadima

Foreign crooks are also involved in sexual exploitation for financial gain. That Kenyan women often confess to having a soft spot for foreign men does not help matters when their lovers are criminals either on the run or transit.
Just this January, lawyer Elizabeth Koki was killed by her adventure-seeking lover whose true nationality has not been confirmed. Koki’s lifeless body was found in the bedroom at her Syokimau house by a curious house help.
The founder of Koki and Associates HR Law Consultants was murdered by her boyfriend identified as Christian Kadima. The 36-year-old man was found with multiple identification documents.

Alfred Bangura: Senegal
Few days later, Alfred Bangura, a Senegalese was arraigned in court for stealing from Joyce Mbalo, a Kenyan woman he met on an online dating site Badoo. The 38-year-old man was said to have lured and picked Mbalo, 25, from a petrol station in Marurui area of Nairobi and drove towards Kahawa West. Midway, the suspect turned violent and robbed  her of personal effects, including a mobile phone worth Sh25,000.

Gregory Dow: USA

Gregory Dow, a convicted sex offender fled USA to Kenya where he established the orphanage under the guise of missionary work. He bailed out of Kenya when his clandestine activities were exposed after one of the sexually abused minors lifted the lid about what transpired at the home.

Gregory Dow

Following an uproar, the 60-year-old was re-arrested in the US and sentenced on February 5, 2021, to more than 15 years in prison for abusing underage girls in Kenya.

“Gregory Dow was the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing,” said Michael Driscoll of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Last year, Dow pleaded guilty in the US to four counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign place.