A Congolese man who allegedly received Sh151 million to export tantalum niobium to China and instead sent a heap of soil was Thursday arrested in a government office along Harambee Avenue, Nairobi.
He was arrested at the parking of the top government offices where he had gone to seek help in his case, police said.
Part of the said minerals, which turned out to be fake was intercepted at the Mombasa port on January 30, 2024.
Police said Gabriel Kalonda alias Ulunda Patrick Lumumba alias Lumumba Patrick Byarufu was arrested at the parking of a government office where he had gone to seek help.
Officials said he had gone there to seek help to unfreeze the money that has been frozen in his bank account. He had arrived in Kenya on Thursday April 4, 2024 through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after boarding a plane from Entebe, Uganda.
This is after he used a Ugandan Interstate pass in the name of Lumumba Patrick Byarufu to gain entry.
Police had on January 30 placed a stop order at the Department of Immigration on his passport with the name of Gabriel Kulonda Ilundu but upon arrest today, the suspect was found in possession of another Congolese passport in the name of Patrick Ulundu Lumumba.
The team wants to investigate those who were trying to help the foreigner evade justice. Police had in January intercepted two containers in Mombasa declared as tantalum minerals from Congo that were to be shipped to China.
This was after a Chinese businessman complained he had received soil instead of the said minerals. The Chinese businessman deposited Sh151 million, only for one container to land in China loaded with soil instead of the said minerals.
This prompted him to report the matter to police. The fake minerals had already been paid for but the supposed to be new owners were unaware it was a scam.
Inside the containers the owners thought were packaged with the rare minerals were heaps of soil. Tantalum is a rare transition metal that is highly resistant to corrosion and has important applications in electronic equipment.
Detectives from Operations Support Unit of DCI pursued the case to the Mombasa port where they intercepted and broke into the two containers only to find they contained soil. The investigations have linked the incident to fake gold scammers who have been operating in Nairobi.
The discovery of the soil in China which was thought to be the rare minerals from Congo prompted an investigation leading detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to intercept the consignment at the Mombasa container terminal (MCT).
The DCI officers said the two containers were just about to be shipped to China as well like the first one when they intercepted them.
The containers were opened, and inside were reconditioned metallic drums, which were loaded with sand as tantalum minerals. Police are now focusing on the port which facilitated the export of the soil.