Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), in cooperation with investigators from Uganda and Interpol, successfully located 7,420 bags of caustic soda on Friday. This amount is equivalent to seven containers of the product, which had been fraudulently obtained from an Indian businessman by international scammers.
The DCI launched this recovery operation after receiving a complaint from the affected businessman, Surya Parkash. Parkash had reported that 104 containers of the product, valued at Ksh.267 million, had been delivered to fictitious companies between December 12, 2022, and April 2023.
Caustic soda serves as a reagent in laboratory settings and is also used as a cleansing agent.
The complainant, who traveled from India to Kenya to file his report at DCI headquarters, revealed that five companies, namely Abbey Chemicals East Africa LTD, Innospec LTD, Akoki Investment Agency LTD, CJP Chemicals LTD, and UNATRAL Free Zone SMC Uganda LTD, had placed orders for the consignment. These orders were delivered through the port of Mombasa between January 31, 2023, and May 15, 2023.
According to the DCI statement, once the final container was unloaded at the port, the recipients, who had not paid for the shipment, disappeared and cut off communication with the supplier.
Ongoing efforts are being made to recover the remaining shipment and apprehend the individuals involved in this fraudulent scheme.