By Yuvenalis Wakoli.

Kilimani on face value, is the ideal place for people looking for cosy homes to live. The furnished apartments, residential and commercial villas, proper landscaping gives Kilimani an elegant look.

Sleek cars dominate the roads and almost every building has a uniformed security officer at the gate. The high rent houses is part of the serenity that gives Kilimani it’s look.

Despite the sassy lifestyle in Kilimani, the area has been associated with dirty money, deaths, illegal businesses, parties, prostitution, money laundering and many other vices.

Here are the 5 fake and illegal deals being done in Kilimani that make the fraudsters billionaires.

1. Fake Gold Scams.

Fake gold scams have increased in the region and a lot of people fall victims especially foreigners. The con games involved is the coating of metallic items such as iron and copper with brass, which most people pass off as Gold.

By using loopholes in the law and protection from the police and politicians, the fraudsters are well represented in government and crucial entities like banks and other financial institutions.

Junior police officers can be pocketed as much as ksh 2million inorder to protect the cartels.

The senior officers who are paid more and on need basis ensures that the huge amounts of money coming into the fraudsters’ bank accounts are not flagged as suspicious when banks notify the banking fraud unit.

However to date, not a single big player in the gold scamming enterprise has been successfully convicted by any court in Kenya. The cases either end up at the police stations they are reported to or at the court where all the big scammers are facing multiple cases but are still in the game.

A recent case is where a foreigner was defrauded of Ksh 300Million by the scammers after being promised of Gold. The case ended up in court and till today no one has ever been arrested.

2. Drug Lords.

This are other cartels who are involved in drug trafficking of hard and illegal drugs.

The drug lords have big pockets and have invested in all sectors including banking industry where they hide their ill gotten money, transport sector to aid movement of the contraband and even dry ports for safe landing and storage of drugs.

They will pocket sacks loads of money to the police bosses and their juniors who will then scramble for the cash as the drug lords go ahead with their deals.

Those who have dared come in between their businesses have lived to regret while some are in their graves. Police who have deified their seniors and decided to arrest drug dealers have also found themselves transferred or sacked.

Some policemen have been beheaded by hit men believed to have been hired by drug dealers because of their uncompromising fight against drug trade.

3. Gangsters/Criminals.

Somewhere along the way, nouveau riche criminals have trooped in and turned it their playing ground. The typical criminals however does not waylay people on the streets and shake them down for money, hijack vehicle or rob a bank.

They tend to be white collar, tech savvy and is well connected with the police. He also has a licenced firearm courtesy of his connections and is an expert in money laundering.

He probably also dresses quite well, presents great outward image, but don’t be fooled. He is also extremely ruthless if you stand his way.

4. Con games.

This are conmens who run offices in the area. Here, unsuspecting foreigner are duped into paying clearance fees for a mineral which Kenya does not produce on an industrial scale.

They arrested and released on cash bail, enabling them to continue conning people while their cases continue in court. Operating side by side by this conmens are money launderers and cyber criminals.

One conman narrates that their is an online international bank fraud where the loader who steals money from bank accounts abroad and sends it offline to another country after which it is then send to Kenya.

In Kenya, their is a guy referred to as POS owner who runs a cashless card onto his machine to cash the money within 24 hours.

This cartels know how to use the law and they are well connected. They can intercept police files whenever they want.

5. Money counterfeiting.

Counterfeit money is imitation of currency produced without the legal sanction of the state or government.

Can also be defined as the manufacture of false money for gain, a kind of forgery.

The cartels counterfeit large sums of false foreign currency and are usually circulated in Kenya. The fraudsters are said to be in a gang of local and international crooks conning gullible individuals and investors.

They also pretend to be super rich businessmen who can assist one make instant millions of shillings in the city under the sun.

Some of the counterfeit currency is used to finance criminal activities such as money laundering businesses and terrorism. They are well protected by the police and it is hard for them to face the law.