Kenyan Man Charged in Ksh28M Failed Gold Deal Fraud
Willis Onyango Wasonga. [Photo/DCI]
A Kenyan man, Willis Onyango Wasonga, has been charged with defrauding an American national of USD 217,900 in a botched 495 kg gold deal.
Wasango has been arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts and charged with conspiracy to defraud, use of proceeds of crime, among other charges.
However, he pleaded not guilty to all the four charges pressed against him by the Prosecution.
The court has granted him a bond of Ksh1 million with two contact persons with an alternative of cash bail of Ksh350,000.
Wasonga was arrested after a report was made at Capitol Hill police station by Gershonov Oleg on behalf of his American business partner, John Sodipo, following what detectives now describe as a calculated money laundering and sophisticated gold scam.
Investigations have revealed that Oleg first visited Kenya in September 2025 to pursue a gold transaction that never materialised.
However, during that trip, he established contacts with alleged gold dealers, one of them identified as Willis Onyango Wasonga, alias ‘Marcus’, who is the main suspect.
According to the DCI, negotiations between Sodipo and Onyango for the purchase and subsequent chartering of 495 kg of gold to Dubai commenced.
After reaching an agreement, Sodipo deposited the agreed chartering fees into a purported escrow account under advocate Michael Otieno Owano of MOAC Advocates, with Oleg flying to Kenya to oversee the shipment process.
However, the shipment was delayed past the agreed timelines, and as pressure for the consignment to be chartered mounted, it became clear the deal was a mirage.
Further, investigations revealed that funds were swiftly moved between company accounts and later transferred overseas, a pattern investigators say bears classic hallmarks of money laundering, including layering and concealment of proceeds of crime.
The case will be mentioned on March 3, 2026.
