Locked boxes and a missing shipment expose alleged $600,000 Nairobi gold fraud

Andrew Adel Gaballa had keys to the safes, but not to the boxes holding what was supposed to be his gold collateral. Those boxes remain unopened, according to The Standard. For the Dubai-based Australian, they are an unresolved part of a Nairobi gold deal that Kenyan investigators describe as an alleged $600,000 fraud.

Gaballa works with Sakina Commodities, a licensed gold importer into the United Arab Emirates. He told The Standard that an American, Marshall Morrison, introduced him to Kenyan Duncan Okonji. After meeting in November, they travelled to Kenya and then Mwanza, Tanzania, where Gaballa visited mining operations run by Group 9 and met Mohamed Faraji. The visit was followed by an invitation to buy a 590kg consignment, including 10kg offered as collateral—material intended to secure part of the payment.

From mine visit to locked collateral

In Nairobi, Gaballa met a lawyer and Robert Okonji, described as the exporter from Business Express Enterprises Ltd. During a February visit, he was told insurance had to be paid and the collateral would be melted at a house in Kilimani. Instead, he said, he saw pellets resembling brass, and no melting took place to establish authenticity. Three boxes containing a combined 10kg of supposed gold were later placed at My Safe Kenya in Sarit Centre. The Standard reported that their inspection was still pending, with mining officials, investigators and other parties expected to attend.

According to a complaint letter seen by the newspaper, Sakina Commodities transferred $10,000 for legal services and $495,000 for insurance to trust accounts at Ecobank’s Westlands branch on February 13. On March 6, 2026, it also sent two payments of 40,000 and 19,990 USDT, a digital token, to a cryptocurrency wallet. Another $4,000 went to the storage firm. Gaballa separately reported more than $50,000 in travel and business expenses, excluding salaries and lost income. He alleged that the law firm failed to ensure physical gold existed before releasing insurance money. Although the firm said it had paid brokers, he said their documents showed the funds remained with the firm and no policy had been issued.

The turning point came when the buyers were told the gold was being flown to Oman for melting rather than Dubai, with the Middle East conflict given as the reason. Gaballa said no shipping documents supported that claim. Images purportedly showing metal bars were later found to show padlocks packed in a box. The Standard reported that checks with airport authorities found no aircraft had departed carrying the claimed gold consignment to Oman.

Gaballa said the absence of a shipment was when the buyers understood they had been defrauded, according to The Standard.

One charge, with authenticity still unresolved

Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations said Duncan Okaka Okonji was arrested on March 24, 2026, and charged the next day at Milimani Law Courts with conspiracy to defraud. He denied the charge. Investigators said he was released on a Sh5 million bond or an alternative Sh1 million cash bail, with two contact persons. The charge remains an allegation, not a finding of guilt.

Gaballa and his lawyer, Nabil Khan, criticised the pace of the inquiry, including the failure to test the stored material and the arrest of only one suspect. Gaballa nevertheless acknowledged support from senior investigators. The next formal court step is a mention scheduled for April 7, 2026. Inspection of the unopened boxes remains another key unresolved step: the material offered as security has still not been verified.