Lawyer Thomas Otieno Ngoe & Nicholas Otieno Ndolo
Two suspects, lawyer Thomas Otieno Ngoe and Nicholas Otieno Ndolo, were charged yesterday in a Kibera court with defrauding a foreigner of USD 123 million, or Sh 16 billion, in gold.
Nicholas Otieno Ndolo and Thomas Otieno Ngoe faced senior principal magistrate Charles Mwaniki. The gold to be purchased weighed 3000 kilogrammes.
Police had requested 14 days to hold them while they completed their investigations, according to an affidavit presented in court by the prosecution.
However, the two suspects were released on Sh500,000 cash bail and ordered to report to the investigating officer whenever they were required to face pending charges.
If the police are dissatisfied with the ruling, they have 14 days to appeal. According to the police affidavit, the suspects were arrested on Tuesday after the foreigner filed a complaint that he had sent money to the first respondent, Ndolo, via Africorp Legal Consultants’ account using his USA Northern Trust bank.
According to the affidavit, Ndolo threatened to deport the complainant. “It was after the complainant had sent the money that he realised that some of the documents the respondent had provided were not genuine.
such as the customs entry indicated on the declaration form dated March 08, 2023, that he contacted the accused, who began to avoid meeting him,” added the affidavit by Inspector of Police Alexander Makomah.
The complainant, after receiving the threats, according to Inspector Makomah, reported the threats at the Capitol Hill police station, and after his investigation he told the court that he discovered that the money had been wired to the accused through Equity Bank. He established that the account was being used by the second accused person, Ngoe.
Ngoe, according to the police affidavit, had sent the money to other accounts, which police want to investigate. During an operation to arrest the suspects, police say in their affidavit that a firearm was recovered in the vehicle that the second accused person Ngoe was using.
”The firearm that was recovered is suspected to have been used to commit crimes and is therefore subject to forensic analysis and also to ascertain how it was acquired and if the suspect is a licensed gun holder,” added Inspector Makomah.
Lawyer Apollo Mboya, who led the defence team, had objected to them being detained for more days, saying that they were not a flight risk and they would cooperate with police within the time they were required to give them information regarding the case.