A lawyer was Thursday arrested for his role in a high-stakes fake gold scam that defrauded a Canadian investor of USD 618,000 (Sh80 million) in Nairobi.
This came as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) intensified its efforts against transnational gold fraud syndicates, responsible for defrauding foreign investors of hundreds of thousands of dollars through elaborate fake gold schemes.
In an ongoing investigation, detectives from the Operations Support Unit (OSU) have arrested Michael Otieno Owano, an advocate and proprietor of Otieno M.O. Law Advocates, for his role in a high-stakes scam that defrauded the Canadian investor of USD 618,000.
The victim was lured into a fake gold export deal involving 250 kilograms of gold, allegedly set for shipment to Dubai aboard a private jet.
On April 15, 2025, a Proforma Invoice of USD318,400 was issued by EAI Logistics, with the funds wired to Owano’s law firm account.
He was later asked to send an additional USD300,000 to a cryptocurrency wallet, but no gold was ever delivered.
Owano’s arrest follows the earlier arrest of Francis Talla Ouafo, also known as Allain, a Cameroonian national believed to be the mastermind of the syndicate. He was arraigned on July 31, 2025, at the Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court.