Somali national Abdinoor Sharmake Mohamed has been arraigned at Makadara Law Courts on charges of conspiracy to defraud and giving false information.
The alleged scheme involved $394,209. Three other Somali nationals — Muna Dahir Dalmar, Salma Osman Gureye, and Shamis Warsame Osman — remain at large.
The case began in 2023 when the suspects reported at Pangani Police Station that a businessman had defrauded them of their investment.
They claimed to have invested $394,209 in African Express Cargo, alleging the businessman became evasive and fled the country without starting the joint venture.
The suspects produced a May 2, 2023, Acknowledgment of Debt, purportedly signed by the businessman in the presence of an advocate.
Police from Starehe investigated and arrested Abdinoor at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in March 2025, after confirming his movements and profiling the suspect.
Abdinoor alleged he had been abducted by individuals posing as police, illegally detained, coerced to sign the debt agreement, and forced to pay $47,000.
Further investigations disproved the complaint, showing neither Abdinoor nor the three Somali suspects were in the country on the alleged dates.
Authorities also found the businessman had no connection to the supposed fraud, and the Nairobi hotel cited in the claim had no relevant records.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said the report was deliberately false, intended to coerce, extort, and pervert the course of justice.
Abdinoor Mohamed was charged under MCCR No. E1091/2026. Police continue to search for the three Somali suspects who remain at large.
