Five suspects accused of conspiring to steal USD 19,000,000, equivalent of Sh2.85 billion worth of gold from a Malaysian businessman have been released on cash bails of Sh500,000 each.

Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Martha Nanzushi however ordered another suspect, Muke Wa Manzoni Didier, a Congolese national to be remanded in custody until the hearing and determination of the case after the court was informed he has a similar case in another court.

His co-accused persons, Patrick Otieno Oduor, Brian Otiende Anyanga, Kenn Omondi Kiboi, Joshua Odhiambo Ngadi and Mark Riogi Kabete, were each ordered to be released on cash bails of Sh500,000 with one contact person.

They have all denied two counts of conspiracy to commit a felony and attempting to steal US$19 million (Sh2.85)from Halid Bin Yaacob, a Malaysian national by falsely pretending that they were in a position to sell 500kg of gold to him on December 27, 2023.

According to the prosecution, the accused persons were arrested on December 27, 2023 by detectives from DCI whilst in the midst of a transactional meeting to defraud two Malaysian nationals at Kileleshwa, Nairobi county.

It is said that they were on the verge of a 500kg semi-refined gold bars fraud scam.

It is also said that frustrated and visibly shocked, the complainant landed in Kenya from Kuala Lumpur on December 25, 2023, following an invitation by a firm operated by the suspects.

According to the police, in a well-choreographed scheme, the suspects had set up an operational base in a house in Kileleshwa, with fully furnished office-style rooms to steal from unsuspecting foreign nationals.

Last year, lawyer Thomas Otieno Ngoe and businessman Nicholas Otieno Ndolo appeared before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Zainab Abdul and denied three charges of conspiracy to defraud US$1 million from American businessman Seth Adams Bernstein and forging of a East Africa Mineral Export permit.

The magistrate released the duo on a cash bail of Sh500,000 each.