Foreign traders of precious stones seeking to operate in Kenya will have to go through strict scrutiny, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has announced.
The DCI has noted with great concern that cases of fraud in such trades, especially gold trade, are on the rise, and has moved in to tackle the matter and prevent such going forward.
In a tweet, the DCI says that it is seeking to tame the rising cases of individuals being cleverly swindled by being sold fake gold, a trend that has made innocent buyers record huge losses.
"DCI attention has been drawn to an upsurge in criminal cases involving the procurement and sale of gold the country. The Gold Scam has now reached alarming levels as unsuspecting foreign nationals are being swindled large amounts of money by the fraudsters," reads the tweet.
The George Kinoti-led directorate has called for support from foreign countries through their embassies and wants them to lend a hand in salvaging the situation.
It wants the embassies to advise their nationals of the risks involved in the business before jumping on board, to avoid being victimised by the clever con artists.
It also wants Kenyans in the trade to ascertain the legality of their foreign customers to be on the safe side.
“We urge the Embassies (High Commissions) to advise their nationals coming in for business to be apprised of con business of gold going on in the country and first contact the Department of Mines and Geology for a procedure that pertains to buying and selling of gold and other precious metals,” further reads the tweet.