Rwandese, Kenyan charged over fake gold deal

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Two men, a Rwandese national and a Kenyan have been charged with obtaining over 12 million shillings pretending to be gold dealers.

Emmanuel Ngaraguro (Rwandese) and Erascos Katiko Josiah are accused of obtaining USD 123,500 from Mansour Aljabri Salem by pretending that they were in a position to sell to him 100 kilograms of gold jeweleries, a fact they knew to be false.

The two are alleged to have committed the offence between 19th March 2019 and 16th April 2019 in Nairobi with intend to defraud, jointly with others not before court.

The two denied the charges before Senior Resident Magistrate Muthoni Nzibe.

The prosecution did not oppose the release of Josiah on bail. However the prosecutor opposed the release of the Rwandese on bail on ground that chances of him being at flight risk are very high since he is a foreigner.

Their lawyer Stanley Kangahi requested the court to grant them bail saying that Josiah is just a driver for a corporate entity.

Kangahi added that bail does not discriminate foreign nationals.

“The fact that he is Rwandese does not in itself present the element if flight risk.

He is married to a Kenyan and has a known fixed aboard,” the lawyer submitted.

Kangahi also told the court that no affidavit in opposition of bail has been sworn.

The magistrate ruled that bail is a constitutional right for all accused persons.

She thereafter granted the two accused persons a bond of Sh 1 million and one surety of the same amount. Alternatively each can deposit a cash bail of Sh 500,000 and provide one Kenyan contact person.

The case will me mentioned on 8th May for pre trial and will be heard on 17th July 2019.