A man has bee arraigned before a Nairobi court after allegedly scamming an American citizen USD 357,300 (apprx Sh 46,216,755) in a non-existent investment opportunity.
Phillip William Knight was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Lukas Onyina under a miscellaneous application where the police sought orders to detain him for 10 days to conclude investigations.
Knight was arrested on 22nd March 2025 at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in connection with allegations of obtaining money by false pretenses.
According to court documents, the complainant Casey Drew Cain, an American citizen was introduced into alleged investment opportunities by Knight who requested that the payments be made in cash either in US Dollars or in Kenya Shillings.
The court heard that on 27th September, 2024, the complainant made a cash payment of USD 25,000 which was paid to the respondent at Connect Coffee, within Nairobi in his capacity as the Manager, Sunshine Minerals Canada Limited and later signed an acknowledgement note of the said money.
Investigating officer Corporal Paul Maina told the court that on the 3rd October, 2024, Knight again approached the complainant with new opportunity which he presented as a charity project under his companies Hallo Global Project Management Limited and Sunshine Minerals Canada Limited.
“The respondent informed the complainant that the goal of this project was to empower women and deserving communities by providing them with workplace skills claiming the project would be impactful and beneficial to them,” officer Maina said.
Knight allegedly offered Cain the position of ‘Project Manager of the project titled World Food Program/0100/2023 and in return, he was required to make a cash payment of USD 16,300.
He promised the complainant that by making this investment, he would earn ten times from the same hence the complainant expected a total amount of USD 163,000 from his initial investment.
Further, on 3rd October 2024, the complainant made the said payment of USD 16,300 while at the respondent’s residence located at Palm Springs along Dennis Pritt road in Nairobi in line with the terms outlined in the World Food Program that had a total project valuation of USD 125 million.
More opportunities
To add to the above, Knight would later again introduce the complainant to another business opportunity which was described as a recurring export contract where his company, Sunshine Minerals Canada Limited would be involved in exporting gold to Dubai on a Monthly basis under his direction.
“To participate in this contract, he proposed that the complainant make a payment of USD 525,000 in order to be included in a Deposit Collaboration Agreement,” the Investigating officer said.
He added that on 10th October 2024, both parties finalized a detailed contract designated and referenced SSM10102024/Southbrook in which the complainant was tasked with funding the contract and as a result, he, through his long time investor, Dr. William B. Woodward, paid a sum of USD 281,000 to the respondent by wire transfer through Wells Fargo Bank.
The court heard that in Mid October 2024, the respondent again approached the complainant requesting for a further payment of USD 35,000 allegedly to cover the administrative costs for the World Food Programme project(World Food Program/001/2023) which he paid on the 26th October, 2024 at Sunshine Minerals offices located along Kilimani road.
The officer said that the complainant has paid an amount totalling to USD 357,300 but the respondent is yet to deliver on any of his promises.
Officer Maina also said that releasing the respondent at this stage would jeopardize investigations.
“The investigations are not yet complete and the applicant seeks to be given more time to hold the suspect,” he said.
The officer said he needs time to subject the exhibit phones to forensic analysis and record a statement from Dr. Woodward who is a key witness but based in the United States of America.
The investigating teal also needs time to obtain bank statements from Wells Fargo Bank which is also based in the US.
It is alleged that Knight is a flight risk since he was arrested at JKIA on his way to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
