The complaint, filed with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), detailed how a syndicate of fraudsters posing as lawyers and brokers orchestrated a sophisticated scheme involving fake gold, forged insurance, and bogus storage facilities.
It began with a promise of fortune, six hundred kilograms of gold, bound for Dubai. But for Australian investor Andrew Adel Gaballa, that promise would unravel into one of Nairobi’s most audacious scams.
Gaballa met American intermediaries who introduced him to an individual named Duncan Okonji. Together, they travelled to Mwanza, Tanzania, where the deal was sealed, 600 kilograms of gold. Ten kilograms would serve as collateral, while 590 kilograms would be shipped to Dubai.
“This case we found is a very elaborate case that was planned very well. It started with people approaching my client in Dubai, inviting him, taking him to Tanzania, showing him operations, creating elaborate paperwork, but what we find is that no product has been delivered, money has been paid, money has disappeared,” stated Nabeel Khan.
In Kilimani, Nairobi, the collateral was handed over. Small pellets of gold were melted in a house, an act Gaballa now believes was staged to blackmail and trap him.
The complaint also reveals that Gaballa paid Ksh.517,000 (4,000 USD) to store what he thought was genuine gold at a Nairobi facility. That collateral turned out to be fake, smelted at a sham customs site allegedly run by known criminal faces.
The complaint details a web of transactions, Ksh.63 million wired for insurance, Ksh.1.2 million for legal services, Ksh.5.1 million in cryptocurrency transfers, and Ksh.517,000 for storage fees.
Add to that over Ksh.6.4 million in travel and business expenses, and the losses soar past Ksh.77.5 million. Gaballa is now demanding immediate arrests and accountability from Kenyan authorities.
The syndicate then brought in an insurance company, valuing the gold at nearly one million dollars. Gaballa was told to pay half, Ksh.63.9 million, through a law firm. He complied, believing the consignment would arrive in Dubai within five days.
“The money was paid from our ADRB account to Conrad Maloba Law Advocates Ecobank accounts and their other respective companies’ trust accounts in Westlands, and that was paid on the 17th. We have all of the swift transfers to confirm the payments to be made,” Gaballa noted.
“There are also payments of USDT to a wallet in total of Ksh.70.4 million ($545,000) paid, and we also have an excess of Ksh.7.1 million in expenses which have also been spent.”
But before the shipment could leave, the scammers claimed war in the UAE made delivery impossible. They demanded an additional Ksh.5.1 million to reroute the gold to Oman. Gaballa paid again, and waited.
“We can’t really open the 10 kilo collateral yet. We’ve been seeking assistance from the DCI to come and collect it and test it, but we’re not getting very good assistance,” stated Nabeel Khan.
“To be honest, a sincere deal has not happened because we haven’t really seen any progress. It is quite concerning to us to have an Ksh.80 million fraud and to have very little action at all taken against the criminals. It really tells us there’s a larger gold fraud cartel operating here clearly, and very little intent from authorities to do anything about it.”
Five days passed. No gold. The sellers went silent. Realising he had been conned, Gaballa rushed to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
Within 24 hours, investigators arrested Duncan Okaka Okonji. He was charged at the Milimani Law Courts, then released on bond.
Gaballa’s nightmare was only beginning. Days later, on April 3, 2026, as he tried to fly out of Kenya, he was stopped at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
The reason, a red alert had been placed on his passport. He was detained for three hours until the Australian Embassy intervened. Released but shaken, Gaballa went into hiding until the alert was finally lifted on April 8, 2026, four days later.
“I have received unfriendly phone calls in the middle of the night, people calling and hanging up. I haven’t felt safe in my hotel at times since this deal started. I don’t feel safe walking out of my hotel at night, so I spend most of the time inside my hotel,” Gaballa added.
Gaballa remains a victim of a sophisticated scam that spanned borders, law firms, and fake insurance companies. For him, the losses are staggering.
For Kenya, the case raises urgent questions, how did licensed lawyers allegedly facilitate fraudulent payments? Who are the masterminds behind the fake gold? And will the DCI dismantle this syndicate before more investors fall prey?
