Details of how an Interior Ministry employee was detained while attempting to save one of the defendants in a Sh67 million gold fraud scheme have come to light.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) apprehended Mr. Collins Kiprotich Lang’at, a senior officer in charge of protecting VIPs, as he was making calls to gain the release of the suspect identified as Mr. Samuel Wathika Gatharu.
All of Mr. Kiprotich’s responsibilities involve preventing an attack on the VIPs. Members of Parliament, Cabinet Secretaries, Senators, Governors, and other senior government officials are frequently assigned to officers working in this team.
A detective with knowledge of the case who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to the media said that Mr. Kiprotich appeared to have tracked down the DCI officers who had apprehended the suspect. The detectives looking into the case also arrested him over the weekend.
The officer claimed, “We became bored of him and decided to take action because he kept asking for Mr. Wathika’s release even though we realized he has more cases to answer.”
After being discovered in possession of additional firearms, Mr. Gatharu is currently under investigation for new charges that he operates an arms business. Mr. Okute was in possession of a Baretta Pistol that was 13 rounds loaded at the time of his arrest.
Along with Brunoh Otieno Liende alias Oyugi and Mr. Steve Seth Okute, who was also identified as the Director of NewSkys Global Cargo Movers, he was detained. During last year’s elections, Mr. Okute and Mr. Otieno ran for the parliamentary seats of Karachuonyo and Suna East, respectively.
Before the detectives apprehended Mr. Otieno at his opulent residence in Kitusuru, Nairobi County, Mr. Okute was the first person taken into custody.
They were apprehended as a result of a report filed by the victim, who has been named as Ms. Marjorie Grant, an investor with American roots who resides in Los Angeles, California.
The suspects are suspected of defrauding two American citizens in the failed gold scam transaction.
The DCI stated in a statement that after detaining 10 people thought to have stolen $534,000 (Sh67.3 million) from two American citizens, investigators had also found two firearms and over 470 rounds of 9mm and 5.56 mm ammunition.
In unmarked offices along Maalim Juma Road in the Kilimani neighborhood, Mr. Samuel Waithika Gathuru, Kaisarios Loamms (a citizen of Greece), Odhiambo Tobias Patrobas, Oketch Moses, Patrick Mugabe, Elisha Mbandi, Teddy Zamora, and Siva Sakthi Veru (a citizen of India), among others, were detained.
