The suspects being held allegedly in connection to the Sh400 million fake gold deal are part of a larger extortionist gang, it has emerged.
15 suspects have since been arrested and detained by court over the deal also including a member of the Dubai royal family, among them controversial businessman Jared Otieno.
But as it emerges, the group consists a wealthy chain of persons who operate by investing millions of shillings to lure customers into deals in discounted gold in shady deals.
According to the police, their main target are foreigners, and have so far managed to trick a good number of unsuspecting victims, most from Middle East, South America and Europe.
“The gold scam has now reached alarming levels as unsuspecting foreign nationals are being swindled out of large amounts of money by fraudsters,” Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti told the Standard.
The police said that the group has agents in most major cities to scout for possible victims, and who operate from expensive five star hotels, and later invite their willing customers to their office along Menelik Road in Nairobi.
The price, the police revealed, is always Sh3500 a gram, on a condition that the customers buy in bulk, a price Mr Kephers Ojuka, the Chairman of Migori County Miners Association says is too cheap for processed gold.
“The price of ungraded gold is Sh3,300 per gramme at the mines. Once it is taken to Migori town and cleaned, the price rises to Sh4,150 per gramme,” he said.
The standard reports that once the buyers land in Kenya and the deal is complete, they are taken to the gold stores on road, purportedly to shoe them the besutiry of Kenya, before being handed fake gold, or pieces of metal.
It had also been revealed that the 9 vehicles arrested at the homes of the suspects had fake number plates.