By Obegi Malack
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Thursday arrested a woman for allegedly defrauding a foreigner off Ksh.300 million in a fake gold scam.
The woman Pauline Adhiambo Odok alias Rose Omamo who has been on the run since May 2020 was arrested in Oloolua,Dam Estate. Her warrant of arrest was issued in January, 2020.
According to DCI the suspect has been masquerading as a relative to a senior government official, and convinced Southorn Chanthavong, a director of Simong Group Company based in Lao, that she would sell him gold.
Pauline and her accomplices who have since been charged had lured the victim to an office in Kileleshwa’s affluent Kaputei gardens, where the victim was allegedly shown genuine gold bars in heavy metal boxes and immediately a deal was struck.
“A flurry of meetings then took place, between 8th and 25th May 2019, after which the victim parted with Sh300 Million, being payment of an undisclosed quantity of gold. According to their deal, the precious metal would be delivered to his home country in Laos ,” the DCI statement read.
It is after Chanthavong parted with the money being payment for the consignment, that things started changing , the victim who had been told to wait for his shipment in Laos, a top rice producing country in Southeast Asia, realized that he had been conned after the shipment failed to arrive.
The suspect is currently in custody awaiting arraignment in court, to answer to charges of Conspiracy.