A lawyer was arrested within the precincts of Milimani Law courts while his colleagues are being sought for defrauding a foreigner of Sh182 million in a fake tender scam.
Michael Otieno Owano was arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) when he went for a mention in another case where he is the accused.
According to detectives from the DCI’s Operations Support Unit (OSU), in 2022 the advocate was part of a gang, where he posed as head of a company. Together with Alvin Alexander, they lured the proprietor of the American-based company, Underground Pipeline Rehabilitation Company, into the country to allegedly meet some government officials and discuss the award of tenders.
“Oblivious of the prime suspect’s choreographed machinations, the complainant flew into the country, where they held several meetings in various offices and was handed three different fake tender documents,” the DCI said.
The tenders included a tender for Supply, Installation and Commissioning of Area Control Centre and Disaster Recovery System equipment, Provision of Consultancy Services for the Process of Design, Implementing and maintenance of an Information Management System (ISMS) and for Supply, Delivery, Installation and Commissioning of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS).
In the process, the complainant was convinced to make payments to facilitate the tenders and work permits as part of the conditions to be met before commencing the projects. A total of USD 1,617,200 (equivalent to Sh182.743 million) was paid as instructed by the purported government officials, through four different escrow accounts operated by four law firms.
The accused’s firm, Owano Michael & Company Advocates was paid USD 90,000 (Sh11.6 million) as legal fees for contracts.
The DCI said Owano was arrested and later released on a cash bail as they wait for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to approve the charges.
Red alerts
“He is out on a cash bail. His accomplices are also being pursued,” the DCI said.
Detectives are also investigating at least three other lawyers and another fake lawyer, all Nairobi-based, for their involvement in various fake gold scams.
Some of the foreigners have reported to the police that they were defrauded despite getting assurance from the lawyers that their transactions were genuine.
The DCI had also said some gold scammers are colluding with rogue Immigration Department officials to intimidate foreign businessmen and their witnesses after defrauding them.
“Scammers are using any means possible to intimidate foreign complaints such as threats and unjustified travel stop orders placed by corrupt Immigration officers,” according to the DCI.
A number of Immigration officers, already identified, were even placing red alerts for foreigners who have been defrauded. The Immigration officials involved in these scams are said to receive 10 per cent of the proceeds.
“While Kenya does not produce much gold, tons of the commodity are being traded through the country whereby scores of foreign gold buyers have lost millions of dollars in a scam, which has continued despite efforts by the government and reports in the media,” an earlier report by the DCI reads.
In August last year, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) agreed to report suspicious transactions by their members to the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC).
