Court acquits businessman Abass Badru of fraud charges
Abass Badru Omuyoma. [Photo/Business Times Kenya]
A Nairobi court has acquitted businessman Abass Abass Badru Omuyoma, alias Yuri Sande Ismael, of gold fraud charges.
Abass had been charged with obtaining money by false pretences contrary to section 313 of the Penal Code.
The prosecution had stated that the businessman, with intent to defraud, obtained Ksh8.1 million from Yvan De Coninck.
They stated that on August 11, 2021, Abass got the money from the Canadian investor, pretending that he was in a position to sell him 15 kilograms of gold, a fact he knew was false.
Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Robinson Ondieki ruled that the prosecution did not provide the court with enough evidence of the charges against Abass.
“The prosecution did not adduce enough evidence to court to prove the charges against the accused (Abass) beyond reasonable doubt,” ruled Magistrate Ondieki.
During his defence, Abass told the court that he was approached by a lady called Madam Pinky, who sought to have him connect them with any gold supplier whom he had at that time.
He later connected the buyer with a supplier who agreed to get into an agreement for the supply of 200 kilograms of gold, and then he pulled out of the discussions they were having and left them to discuss how they can proceed with the transaction or terminate the transaction.
However, a disagreement ensued, and the supplier demanded a refund from the client, who in turn rejected it and sought to have the transaction be completed.
He told the court that later, after the disagreement, he was summoned because he was the one who introduced the two parties into the transactions, and he gave his statement, leading to him being arraigned and charged.
