Detectives have made a breakthrough in the investigation of an international fraud case where businessmen based in India lost goods worth over Ksh267 Million, to suspected fraudsters based in Uganda, assisted by local thugs.
In a statement, this is after the complainant one Surya Parkash, the Chief Executive of Kutch Chemical Industries LTD supplied a consignment of 104 containers of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) to fictitious companies between December 12, 2022 and April 22, 2023.
Caustic soda is used as a reagent in laboratories and also as a cleansing agent.
According to the complainant who flew to Kenya from India to file his report at DCI headquarters, five companies identified as Abbey Chemicals East Africa LTD, Innospec LTD, Akoki Investment Agency LTD, CJP Chemicals LTD and UNATRAL Free Zone SMC Uganda LTD, had ordered for the consignment which was delivered through the port of Mombasa, between January 31, 2023 and May 15, 2023.
But immediately the last container was offloaded at the port, the consignees who had not paid for the shipment went under, and severed communication with the supplier.
Investigations into the fraud bringing together seasoned sleuths from DCI’s Serious Crimes Unit, officers from Ugandan police, Criminal Investigations Department and INTERPOL were immediately launched.
On Thursday, the team recovered 7,420 bags equivalent to 7 containers of the product at Liberty Internal Container Depot, a logistical company located along Bweyogere Industrial Area in Kampala, Uganda.
Efforts to recover the rest of the shipment and arrest the suspects involved are ongoing.
