Thirty-one suspects were arrested on Tuesday in connection with a gold scam in Runda and charged with multiple counts of fraud on Wednesday.

The first charge involved conspiracy to defraud two foreign nationals of Kes7 million by falsely promising to sell them 35kg of gold.

 “On diverse dates between 24th August, 2024 and 19th October, 2024 at Nairobi city county within the Republic of Kenya, jointly with others not before court conspired to defraud Ms Sonali Purbia Malviya and Mr Mohamed Adel of a sum of USD 54,300 (Ksh.7 million) by falsely pretending that you were in a position to sell 35kgs of gold to Integrous Gold and Diamond Trading LLC,” the court heard.

For the second charge, three suspects were accused of obtaining money by pretenses, while twelve others faced charges of possessing fraudulent documents intended to resemble currency notes.

All the suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court will rule on their bail application on Thursday.

They were arrested in a crackdown by detectives from the Operations Support Unit on Tuesday after two foreign nationals were conned.

According to a statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations On X, investigators seized key evidence, including counterfeit gold, spray paint, and padlocks used to create the fake gold during the operation.