Former Member of Parliament aspirant Jonathan Okoth Opande is in police custody after he was apprehended by the DCI detectives at JKIA.
DCI in a statement on Saturday said the Nyamza politician was ejected from a Kisumu-bound KQ flight.
“Opande also known as Chairman/Kiongozi was ejected from a Kisumu-bound KQ flight yesterday afternoon, by hawk-eyed detectives who had gotten wind of his last minute travel itinerary,” DCI stated.
The suspect who unsuccessfully contested the Nyakach Parliamentary seat in the 2022 General Elections is accused of defrauding two Thai nationals over Ksh 13 million, in a fake gold deal.
“According to a complaint lodged at the Royal Thai Embassy in April this year by Messrs Kitvisit Songsri and Nutsaphol Songsri, the suspect posing as the CEO of Blu Afrique LTD obtained the money from them in the pretext that he would supply them gold whose quantity was not immediately established,” DCI stated.
The victims of the fraud had flown to Nairobi from Thailand in April this year when it dawned on them they had been fleeced.
The duo had been introduced to Kiongozi by his accomplice Fred Obach Oliech, who was arrested on August 23, and has already had his day in court.
A raid at the main suspect’s office in Lavington’s Gatina area led to the recovery of KRA export seals, a dust coat branded Ministry of Mining and digital weighing scales among other crucial exhibits.
The suspect is currently being held at Buruburu police station pending arraignment on Monday.
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