A Congolese man who allegedly received Sh151 million to export tantalum niobium to China and instead sent a heap of soil was on Thursday arrested in Nairobi.
Part of the said minerals, which turned out to be fake was intercepted at the Mombasa port on January 30, 2024, police said.
Police said the prime suspect 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 had been frozen in his bank account.
He had arrived in Kenya on Thursday, April 4 through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after boarding a plane from Entebbe, Uganda.
He used a Ugandan Interstate pass to gain entry.
Curiously, police had on January 30 placed a stop order at the Department of Immigration on his passport but upon arrest today, the suspect was found in possession of another Congolese passport.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said they plan to arraign the suspect on Friday.
The team wants to investigate those who were trying to help the foreigner evade justice.
The detectives 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.
This prompted him to report the matter to the 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 the 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 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.
The multi-agency team took samples of the soil for further investigations and analysis and found it was not the thought minerals.
Police have been warning foreigners against greed to make quick money by getting perceived cheap minerals including gold.
This is after tens of foreigners were conned by scammers based in Nairobi in a shocking series of events.
The foreigners are advised to seek advice from their respective embassies in Nairobi.
