Court Orders Release of Sh30 Million Porsche to Suspected Fake Gold Scammer Jared Otieno

A Nairobi court has directed police to release a Sh30 million luxury car to the suspected fake gold fraudster, Jared Otieno.

This comes after the State lost a bid to hold the Porsche Panamera with High Court judge John Onyiego ruling that there was no evidence showing the high-end car was acquired through proceeds of crime.

In his ruling, the judge directed detectives to release the car to Otieno, noting that it was lying at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters wasting away.

Justice Onyiengo, however, declined to order the release of a custom-made 2018 Bentley Continental GT valued at Sh47 million. The car was impounded together with the Porsche Panamera from Otieno last year.

The Assets Recovery Authority (ARA) had filed an application in court seeking to have the two vehicles forfeited to the government on the grounds that they were bought using proceeds of crime given that Otieno has no known source of income.

The State agency claimed that Otieno concealed the ownership of the Bentley by registering it under Yugni Holdings Ltd.

“The respondent has no source of legitimate income and has been filing nil returns with the Kenya Revenue Authority since 2014 to date, which is the period the said motor vehicles were acquired,” ARA said in court filings.

ARA is preparing an appeal, arguing that the released vehicle will deteriorate in value and defeat the push to have it surrendered to the State.

Otieno and 15 other suspects were last year charged with conspiracy to defraud, obtaining money by false pretenses, and preparing to commit a felony.

They are accused of obtaining Sh300 million from Southorn Chanthavong, a director of Simuong Group Company, by pretending they were in a position to sell him genuine gold.

The suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges and were freed on cash bail ranging from Sh500,000 to Sh1.5 million.