SA man who lured Australian to Nairobi in Sh10m gold scam caught after 2 years on the run

A South African national has been arraigned in Nairobi and charged with obtaining Sh10 million by false pretenses. 

Tshepang Godfrey Sidumo had fled Kenya in 2018 when he was first charged with the offense.

He was accused of defrauding Nashwan Kamal Sh10,725,000 on February 12, 2018, on Gatanga Road in Kilimani, Nairobi County.

Sidumo had falsely pretended that he was in a position to supply 40kg of gold to Kamal.

It is alleged that he lured Kamal from Australia to Kenya, claiming that he had pure gold for sale.

Kamal is a businessman who deals with buying and selling gold and when he arrived in Kenya, he was booked into a Nairobi hotel where he spent the night with Sidumo on February 11, 2018.

The next day, Kamal said Sidumo took him to Deeds Company Limited on Gatanga Road where he performed a pure gold test on the merchandise, and indeed the results showed he was to buy pure gold.

Kamal agreed to purchase 40kg from Sidumo but he never received the consignment, prompting him to report the fraud to the police.

After his arraignment on April 9, Nairobi Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku ordered the suspect to be remanded in custody until April 13, for the court to peruse his file.