Mnakumbuka ule jamaa wa flashy wedding and customised Porsche. Turns our he was a fraud all along.
The publicity blitz that surrounded the pre-wedding events of Mr Jared Kiasa Otieno’s nuptials caught the attention of the nation.
From descriptions of the opulent display to the symbolism of shattered ethnic barriers, the wedding received considerable media coverage.
Often referred to as a “flashy businessman” or “youthful tycoon” in media reports, Mr Otieno first came to the limelight when pictures emerged on social media in May 2015 as he hosted his in-laws at his rural home of Ndhiwa, Homa Bay County, before leading a delegation to Meru County three months later for dowry payment.
The climax was an invite-only wedding in October 2015 in Nairobi.
The events were conspicuous for the show of wealth, with helicopters vying for parking space with top-of-the-range vehicles, including customised Porsches and Range Rovers. The delegations included politicians, corporate executives and friends.
Notable, too, was the presence of police “escorts”, including outriders. But amid the glitz, police in Nairobi were apparently on the hunt for a Mr Smith Mackenzie Otieno as they investigated a case in which Mr Christian Gallati, an Austrian national, was on May 1, 2015 defrauded of €127,000 (Sh13.7 million).
While Mr Mackenzie was listed as being “at large”, Mr Kevin Obia alias Kevin Kleigh — who was also involved in Mr Otieno’s marriage ceremonies — had made several appearances at Nairobi’s Milimani Law Courts.
Like Mr Otieno, Mr Obia — sometimes referred to as the “Don” — is well known in Nairobi’s high-end entertainment circuit and is often described as a “flamboyant businessman” in media reports.
KILOS OF GOLD
Mr Obia is facing charges of pretending that he could sell 7kg of gold to Mr Gallati for which he obtained the Sh13.7 million during a meeting at a hotel in Nairobi city centre. Prosecutors also allege an attempt to obtain $570,000 (Sh57 million) from Mr Gallati. This time the amount of gold the complainant was promised weighed 13kg.
Mr Gallati had reported the case to Nairobi’s Central Police Station on May 18, 2015 and has been flying in and out of the country to attend court sessions alongside a witness.
A source familiar with the case, but who spoke in confidence, said some court appearances have sometimes been postponed to the inconvenience of the Austrian, but a hearing is set for April 18.
The Nation can today reveal that Mr Jared Otieno and “Mr Smith Mackenzie Otieno” — also known as “Mr Smith Mackenzie” — is one and the same person. He is suspected to be part of a Kenyan-based international ring of fraudsters that mostly offers gold to foreign buyers at heavily discounted prices, but ends up selling air, receiving export processing fees for non-existent cargo or shipping pieces of gold-coloured scrap metal to victims who had paid millions of shillings.
Documents belonging to “Mr Mackenzie” obtained from multiple sources show his preferred form of identification to those he is dealing with is a passport issued on November 8, 2002 showing he was born on March 4, 1980.
Our checks with sources at the Immigration Department indicate no records of such a passport or its use for travel, raising questions on its authenticity. The picture in the passport is, however, that of Mr Otieno. In effect, he has been hiding in plain sight.
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Flashy "businessman” Jared Otieno. He has been named in multi-million-shilling fraud. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
So, have the police known all along of “Mr Mackenzie’s” true identity, including when they provided escort and security during his pre-wedding events?
One alleged victim who provided a sheaf of documents signed by “Mr Mackenzie” and pictures apparently showing he is the same person as Mr Otieno is a Venezuelan lawyer who on June 30 last year reported to Parklands Police Station that he had lost Sh170 million to Nairobi-based fraudsters.
HE HAD BEEN CONNED
In his statement to the police, Mr Simon Aldofo Franco Ortega said he arrived in Kenya on February 1 last year, hoping to collect $17 million (Sh1.7 billion) as proceeds from the sale of a piece of land he owns in Venezuela. After months of cat-and-mouse games, he realised he had been conned by a suspected sophisticated international criminal ring with tentacles in Kenya, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.
When the Nation interviewed him months after he reported the case, he had been stranded in Nairobi and could barely afford to pay his hotel bills.
“When I landed at the airport I took a taxi and booked a hotel room. ‘Mackenzie’ instructed me to buy a new cell phone. He said I should never use the hotel telephone to contact him,” Mr Ortega said.
His story started in 2014 after he left Venezuela to settle in Panama. He set out to sell the land in search for better life in Panama because, as he put it, his country’s economy “is bad, there is no good life, no medicine, no motor vehicle spare parts and if you want foreign currency you have to run to the black market where the rates are five times higher.” Mr Ortega looked for buyers on the internet.
After a few e-mail exchanges, “Mr Mackenzie”, who identified himself as a Kenyan, is alleged to have informed the Venezuelan that a member of the royal family in the United Arab Emirates that he was representing as an agent was interested in purchasing the land.
Within weeks, Mr Ortega allegedly wired the first $105,200 (Sh10.5 million) to an account in Dubai to cater for the legal fees and apparently continued sending more money to facilitate various administrative or logistics issues.
That payment is just one of many others he told the Kenyan police he allegedly made on numerous occasions to bank accounts in Dubai, on the supposed instructions of “Mr Mckenzie”, before coming to Kenya. In total, he claims to have sent money through electronic funds transfer 29 times — with documentary proof to indicate the transactions. The lowest amount was $10,000 (Sh1 million) and the highest $ 210,000 (Sh21 million). The total, he alleges, is $1.7 million (Sh170 million).
At one time, Mr Ortega said he travelled to Dubai and met people who introduced themselves as senior bank officials, which gave him confidence that the deal was clean.
He claimed when he checked his balance online it indicated a balance of $15 million (Sh1.5 billion). But he was later told there was a hitch as he could not be allowed to withdraw the money from the Dubai bank without special authorisation to supposedly avoid money laundering.
“After a lot of communication, we agreed the money should be released to my contact in Kenya and thereafter wired to Panama. I received so many documents from law firms and government agencies showing everything is clean,” he said. However, the letters, which he showed to the Nation, turned out to be fake.
After he came to Kenya to complete the transaction, Mr Ortega alleged that one day he was contacted and told his “cargo” (the money in cash) had arrived and was kept at a secure vault.
“I met him outside a restaurant near Arboretum. We went to a place where the driveway was a single lane. There were many people. They opened a box and I saw it was full of US dollars. ‘Mackenzie’ said that was my cargo,” said Mr Ortega, claiming some of those who were at the place were “armed security”.
PAY SOME CHARGES
But before the “cargo” was given to him, he alleged he was told he had to pay some charges amounting to $101,200 (Sh10 million). This, “Mr Mckenzie” told him, was supposed to pay for a “certificate of non-criminality at $65,000 (Sh6.5 million), custom handling at $23,000 (Sh2.3 million) storage at $7,400 (Sh740,000) and change of ownership at $5,800 (Sh580,000).”
“I did not have the money and so I stayed at the hotel for a full month while struggling to raise it. Finally, I paid it to a law firm as instructed. I went to his office and that is when I realised I had been conned. He told me to fly back to Panama because the money would be wired to my account by the Central Bank of Kenya,” said Mr Ortega.
Mr Ortega alleged that when he reported the matter to the police, he was told the suspect was also wanted for other cases but there was no evidence to arrest him.
Like “Mr Mackenzie”, Mr Otieno operates from an office on 5th Ngong Avenue, Nairobi. Our investigations team found a well secured office with a door that had electronic locks which could only be opened with an access card. After going through this, there is a second door beyond which there are six to eight work stations, a conference room and offices.
It is this office address that “Mr Mackenzie” provided to the Venezuelan lawyer and in various correspondences. In one letter dated January 6, 2016 and seeking various payments, “Mr Mackenzie” signs off as the Chief Executive Officer of East Africa Value Cargo Handlers (K) Ltd. The company describes itself as largely dealing with precious metals and special cargo.
In his report to the police, Mr Ortega also mentions dealing with two companies introduced to him by “Mr Mackenzie”: Obure and Associates and Robert Okong’o and Associates Consultants Ltd.
A number of foreigners who claim to be victims of the Nairobi-based fraudsters and security sector sources claim some senior police officers could be providing protection by frustrating investigations in the reported cases. Our investigative team was told it is the exception rather than the norm for the cases to reach the courts.
But National Police spokesman George Kinoti said: “Any allegation reported to police is investigated. If any criminal ingredients is established, the matter will be presented in court in collaboration with the office of Director of Public Prosecutions.”
Babu owino also deals in such
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These hoes don’t care where you get your money from, they’ll gladly marry the richest nigga
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