The prime suspect in a case where a Chinese national was defrauded of her KSh151 million in mineral scam has been arrested.
Ulundu Patrick Lumumba Alias Gabriel Kulonda Alias Lumumba Patrick Byarufu was arrested by the Operations Support Unit (OSU) of the DCI moments touch down from Entebbe, Uganda.
In the case, the suspect is said to have filled two containers with sand and declared them as Tantalum minerals in order to defraud the unsuspecting Chinese national of the said money. The containers were intercepted in the port of Mombasa.
The suspect was cornered by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers along Harambee Avenue in Nairobi, minutes after reportedly evading detection by immigration officials at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The DCI says that ay JKIA, a Stop Order had been placed on his passport number OPO256544 in the names of Gabriel Kulonda Ilungu.
“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,” the DCI says.
Chinese national loses KSh151M
In the case he is implicated, the DCI says, the female Chinese national lost the KSh151 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.
In the preliminary stages, two 20ft containers also containing sand had been found at the Mombasa Port, before sleuths intercepted a third one (40ft) at a warehouse still at the port.
Under unclear circumstances, the DCI says the 40ft container had passed the entire verification processes without any documentation. This totaled 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.
“But through the quick intervention of OSU hawkshaws, the ring of scammers never lived to reap as much as they had fraudulently worked for, after the bank account in which the Sh151 million was deposited at was frozen. However, the syndicate had already obtained over Sh49 million along the way by working with suspected rogue bank officials who are under active investigations.
“Even as investigations regarding the fake consignment continue, a court battle between OSU detectives and influential members of the scamming ring is underway, as they fight to have the intercepted millions wired to accounts recently opened with a local bank.
The suspect will be arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts today (April 5).
