Dr Satninder Singh, an investor who believed he was buying 150 kilograms of gold for export, has told a Nairobi court how a forged Kenya Revenue Authority penalty notice and a woman who posed as a senior customs officer helped strip him of more than KSh 150 million.

In testimony at the Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court, Singh said the deal began with documents that looked official: a mineral export permit allegedly issued by the Mining Department on 9 February 2024 and certificates of ownership dated 9 April.

He photographed the papers after the sellers, three men now facing fraud charges, refused to hand them over.

The plan, he recalled, was to ship the consignment from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

On arrival, he was told to check in and wait in the lounge for the supposed exporters. “We waited, but as departure time neared, they told us they were trying to sort out some issue,” Singh testified.

The problem, the sellers claimed, was a last-minute USD 1.62 million “penalty” slapped on the cargo by KRA.

Singh says he was warned that unless the money was paid within seven days, the gold would be confiscated.

One of the accused, Frank David Kateti, promised to “take responsibility” if anything went wrong, and a contract dated 20 April was drafted and forwarded to Mosota & Associates Advocates for signing.

Singh told the court he asked for original customs documents and direct communication from KRA. Instead, he was driven to Forodha House, where he met a woman introduced as Susan Oketch, “a senior customs officer”.

The woman produced what looked like Singh’s file and confirmed the penalty. He later discovered the woman was not Susan Oketch and the documents were fake.

Between 8 March and late March, Singh wired more than €1 million in stages: an initial €256,000, followed by €13,000 and other transfers that pushed the total past KSh 150 million.

Each payment was confirmed at Mosota & Associates, yet the gold never left the ground.

Prosecutors say Frank David Kateti, Alain Mwadia Nvita Lukusa and Daniel Oteno Ogot, together with others still at large, conspired to steal €2.17 million and USD 14,112 from Singh’s firm, Asianic Ltd.

They are charged with conspiracy to commit a felony under Section 393 of the Penal Code for pretending they could sell 142 kilograms of gold. The excuses kept changing.

On 20 March, a forged Turkish Airlines airway bill suggested the cargo would fly out that night; later the story shifted to a half-shipment via Somalia Airlines, then to an Italian route, and finally to a United Nations charter.

A man calling himself diplomat Trevor Warren even claimed a Congolese court order required another USD 4.5 million before release.

By late March, Singh said, “the explanations did not make sense” and he concluded there was no gold. The trial continues.