Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have launched sweeping raids across Nairobi after the Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court approved wide-ranging search warrants targeting a businessman, a lawyer, several associates, and multiple companies linked to an alleged Ksh.500 million international fraud.
The searches conducted at Flamingo Towers in Upper Hill, Silver Stone Building in Kilimani, Uhuru Highway Mall in Nairobi West, and the PWC Building in Westlands aim to seize documents, computers, phones, servers, and other materials believed to hold crucial evidence.
The case began with a complaint from Charles Blake Stringer, an American agricultural investor from Texas. In June 2024, Stringer was introduced to a Nairobi firm, Affluent Wealth Management, which he says promised to secure a Ksh.500 million loan for his projects in Africa. He travelled to Kenya, met several representatives, and was told he first needed to obtain a life insurance policy through Toureg Insurance Agency to qualify for financing.
According to investigators, Stringer paid Ksh.98.7 million between June 2024 and January 2025 money that bank records show was quickly moved into accounts belonging to companies such as Urufle Trading Company and Fatimark Energy Ltd, or withdrawn in cash by some of the named suspects.
He also paid Ksh.7.3 million to Ndeda & Company Advocates and Ksh.647,500 toward registering a new Kenyan entity, Nutra Acres Africa Ltd. Weeks turned into months, and despite continued assurances, the loan never materialized.
Detectives now believe Stringer may have been drawn into a well-organized scheme involving multiple actors. The court orders list over a dozen individuals, including lawyer Stephen Juma Ndeda, Michael Omondi Okongo, David Onyango Ochanda, Luke Onyango, Abdifatah Adan Kalicha, Abel Onyango Noah, Abdullahi Bare, Oloo Collins Juma, and others. Companies under scrutiny include Toureg Insurance Agency, Albeirut Wael Enterprises, Urufle Trading Company Ltd, Fatimark Energy Ltd, and Affluent Wealth Managers.
Investigators say the materials seized during the raids will help determine whether the group engaged in offenses such as obtaining money by false pretenses, conspiracy to defraud, computer fraud, money laundering, and organized criminal activity.
Several suspects have already been charged at the Kahawa Law Courts as the probe expands.
For Stringer, what began as a hopeful effort to grow his agribusiness on African soil has turned into a costly ordeal.
