Fraud cartel backfires as ‘complainant’ turns accused in Sh394,000 scam drama

What began as a dramatic fraud complaint has taken a stunning twist after one of the supposed victims was arraigned in court, with detectives declaring the entire case a calculated scheme to extort an innocent businessman.

Abdinoor Sharmake Mohamed was charged at the Makadara Law Courts with conspiracy to defraud and giving false information to a person employed in public office over a USD 394,209 (about Sh50 million) saga.

The case dates back to 2023 when Abdinoor and three others — Muna Dahir Dalmar, Salma Osman Gureye and Shamis Warsame Osman, who are still at large — reported at Pangani Police Station claiming they had been defrauded by a businessman linked to African Express Cargo. They alleged they had invested the money in a joint cargo venture in 2022, only for the businessman to disappear.

To back their claims, they produced an acknowledgement of debt allegedly signed in May 2023.

However, investigations by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations uncovered major inconsistencies. The businessman, who had earlier been arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in March 2025, claimed he had been abducted by individuals posing as police officers, forced to sign the debt agreement under duress and extorted USD 47,000 to secure his freedom and passport.

Further investigations revealed that none of the parties were in the country on the dates the alleged fraud occurred, and there was no record of meetings at the Nairobi hotel where the transactions were said to have taken place.