The prosecution has made an application to withdraw charges against Joseph Waswa in the Sh 400M gold fraud case.
They have informed the court that they do not wish to continue with the case against Waswa, as the offense he is charged with did not commence.
The state informed Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo that, upon review of his file, the DPP wishes to withdraw the case against him.
“We intend to withdraw the charges against the first accused since, after review of the file, it has been established that the alleged offence was not successful, and also the complainant is the state,” added Onsarigo.
The prosecution cited some authorities to back its application, and the defense did so too.
The defence did not oppose that application.
Magistrate Onsarigo demanded to know whether the complainant had been notified of the intentions to withdraw the case and set the date for ruling as he went through those applications.
In this case, Waswa, Akula, and the other accused, Nelson Eru, Roland Johnson, Joseph Gikonyo, Alice Kavata, Ian Wekesa, and Duncan Muchai, are charged with conspiring to defraud a Tunisian businessman, Bilel Arfaoul, of USD 400,000 in a fake gold scam.
According to the charge sheet, Waswa is accused of possessing 634,178 forged US dollar notes, in denominations of one hundred dollars each, knowing them to be counterfeit.
The incident allegedly took place on September 7, 2023, at Villa Mawe in Nairobi’s Garden Estate, where Waswa and his co-accused are said to have been involved in a fraudulent gold deal with Arfaoul.
In a separate charge, Officer Akula is accused of possessing a firearm without a valid licence from the Firearm Licensing Board. He is also facing charges of being found in possession of sixteen rounds of ammunition without the proper authorization.
Waswa allegedly contacted Arfaoul, informing him that he had a consignment of gold valued at one billion shillings that he wanted to sell.
According to the investigating officer, Nicholas Njoroge, Waswa and his accomplices told the foreigner that the gold consignment was being held in a warehouse at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.
The complainant then travelled from Tunisia and arrived at JKIA on September 1, 2023, where he was received by Waswa and his group. The Tunisian businessman was then hosted in Nairobi’s Ngara area, waiting to be shown the gold consignment.
However, when Waswa insisted that payment be made for the gold consignment before showing it, Arfaoul remained cautious, requesting to see the consignment first. On September 7, 2023, the suspects met with the complainant in Ngara and took him to a residential property (LR No. 4894/152) in Garden Estate, allegedly belonging to Waswa.
The police, who had been trailing the suspects, arrested them at the house, though some accomplices managed to escape by scaling the perimeter wall.
“Upon searching for the house, USD 4.68 million was found inside metal boxes, which the complainant had been told contained the gold consignment,” Njoroge stated in an affidavit filed in court. “However, most of the boxes contained sand and pieces of stone, not gold.”
The police also recovered several mobile phones used by the suspects to defraud victims, which were seized at the house.
Constable Festo Akula Wamwayi, stationed in Kisasi, Kitui County, was arrested at the scene after reportedly trying to assist the suspects following their initial arrest.
Waswa has previously made headlines for various criminal activities. In 2014, he was arrested and charged with the alleged murder of Mitch Kibiti, the son of Bungoma County’s former Education Chief Officer, David Kibiti, following a dispute at his Etonia Club in Kimilili.
In 2015, Waswa caused a stir at Bungoma Law Courts when he appeared with 10 “bodyguards”, prompting a Flying Squad operation that led to the arrest of the guards, though they were later released.
In February 2019, Waswa and six others were arrested for impersonating President Uhuru Kenyatta’s voice to con Sameer Africa chairman Naushad Merali out of Sh10 million.
All the accused persons have denied the charges and are currently out on Sh250,000 cash bail each, pending the continuation of the trial.
