For nearly a year, Benson Gembe Odero and Emmulate Adhiambo Othuno played a dangerous game — taunting investigators, slipping through police dragnets, and allegedly orchestrating one of the most audacious gold scams to hit Kenya’s capital in recent years.
Now, the game is over. On August 13, 2025, detectives from the elite Operation Support Unit (OSU) finally cornered the elusive pair in a carefully planned raid, ending months of pursuit that had embarrassed law enforcement and shaken investor confidence.
The Dubai Connection — and a 35kg Gold Mirage
The case began in September 2024, when two investors from Dubai landed in Nairobi, lured by what appeared to be a rock-solid deal to purchase 35 kilograms of gold. Negotiations had been intense, and the payoff promised millions.
On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the visitors were chauffeured to a high-end Kilimani hotel. There, they were ushered into a well-rehearsed theatre of deception — an organised network featuring impostors posing as Kenya Revenue Authority Customs officials, Ministry of Mining officers, and even licensed private jet operators ready to “fly the gold out” at a moment’s notice.
By the time the illusion crumbled, the two investors had been stripped of USD 54,300 (KSh 7 million) in what investigators now call a “precision-engineered sting.”
The November Raids — and 31 Arrests That Weren’t Enough
The Dubai complaint triggered a full-scale OSU investigation. On November 5, 2024, simultaneous raids in Runda, Ridgeways, and Industrial Area disrupted the scam’s Nairobi pipeline. Thirty-one suspects were arrested and arraigned.
But Odero and Othuno, believed to be the operation’s top-tier masterminds, slipped away. Detectives say the duo maintained layers of safehouses, false identities, and a shifting network of aides to keep them a step ahead.
The Final Takedown
The hunt stretched into 2025, with the fugitives surfacing briefly in high-end estates before disappearing again. On August 13, OSU units, acting on fresh intelligence, launched a targeted operation that finally trapped them.
Both were arrested without incident and taken into custody. On August 14, they stood before Milimani Law Courts No. 3, where they denied all charges. The court adjourned the matter to August 18 for bond rulings.
A Scam That Stains Kenya’s Gold Trade
The case is a blow to Kenya’s already fragile reputation in the gold export market, which has been marred by repeated scandals involving fake dealers, doctored export documents, and phantom shipments.
While 33 suspects now face justice, the scandal raises hard questions:
How did a known gold fraud network operate so openly in Nairobi’s high-end districts?
Who inside government circles provided cover for the impersonators?
How many other foreign investors have walked into similar traps without ever reporting them?
The Stakes Beyond the Courtroom
The prosecution of Odero and Othuno will test the government’s resolve to dismantle the criminal networks embedded in Kenya’s lucrative but murky gold trade. For years, foreign embassies have quietly warned their citizens about “gold opportunities” in Nairobi that turn into high-level fraud.
With millions in suspected proceeds still unaccounted for, and whispers of accomplices in positions of authority, this case is far from over. What happens next will determine whether this is the start of real clean-up — or just another headline that fades before the rot is truly exposed.
