Detectives from the DCI's Operations Support Unit have arrested a mastermind behind a Ksh.151 million fraud involving the fake presentation of sand as tantalum minerals.

Ulundu Patrick Lumumba, also known as Gabriel Kulonda Ilungu and Lumumba Patrick Byarufu, was captured in Nairobi when sleuths seized two containers packed with sand labeled as tantalum minerals at the Mombasa Port.

PHOTO | COURTESY Ulundu Patrick Lumumba,

Before his arrest, the suspect landed in Nairobi from Entebbe, Uganda, evading discovery by Immigration officers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, who had issued a stop order on his passport, which had the name Gabriel Kulonda Ilungu.

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PRIME SUSPECT IN TANTALUM MINERALS SCAM NABBED IN NAIROBI.


"Determined to sneak back into the country and further his felonious activities, the suspect used a Ugandan Interstate pass card no. 020841009 in the names of Lumumba Patrick Byarufu, and upon arrest was also found in possession of yet another Congolese Passport number OPO792312 in the names of Patrick Ulundu Lumumba," the DCI said in a statement.

The DCI says the suspect robbed a Chinese national of Ksh.151 million by replacing one of three containers she had ordered with sand rather than tantalum minerals.

"In the case he is implicated, a female Chinese national lost Ksh.151 million to the suspect's machinations after one of three containers declared to contain tantalum minerals was opened in China, only to be found loaded with drums of sand, triggering investigations at the port of Mombasa, the transit route," the Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) stated in a statement on

"In the preliminary stages, two 20ft containers also containing sand had been found at the Mombasa port, before hawk-eyed sleuths intercepted a third one (40ft) at a warehouse still at the port. Surprisingly, the 40ft container had passed the entire verification processes without any documentation. This totalled to six, the number of containers of sand declared as tantalum minerals."

PHOTO | COURTESY the container

Detectives also discovered that two further sand-filled containers had been approved and transported to Dubai before the suspect's detention, and measures were ongoing to intercept them.

The DCI said in a statement that "some port officials believed to have compromised security checks to facilitate the illegal transactions are also being investigated."

Following the suspect's arrest, the DCI attempted to freeze the bank account to which Ksh.151 million was sent, only to discover that Lumumba's colleagues had successfully removed Ksh.49 million from the pool.

The suspect was arraigned at Milimani Law Courts.