Gold bars.
In October, 2024, New York-based accountant Brian Hill was approached by lawyer Randolph Adler with a proposal to invest in a lucrative gold trading scheme that would see him partner with an individual touted as one of the biggest dealers in the world.
Mr Adler claimed to be close to Sanford Ellis, who the lawyer claimed regularly buys large quantities of gold and diamonds, to make a profit while improving the lives of Africans by helping miners get market for their minerals.
In separate meetings between October and December, 2024, Mr Adler claimed to have access to Mr Ellis’s bank accounts in which he saw billions of dollars deposited, and that a Ugandan minister and MP (name withheld) was also a critical part of the business.
Mr Ellis was the biggest gold buyer in the US, Adler claimed.
“With all this information I believed that if I invested in such a business I would have made much profit. I was already convinced that I was entering into a legitimate business,” Mr Hill told the Nation in an interview.
Five months later, Mr Hill has lost $632,885 (Sh81.8 million), is running round circles trying to recover his money, and hoping that authorities, including Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) will help him get justice.
He has written to the DCI seeking an investigation into the scam.
The Ugandan minister admitted to entering a deal with Mr Hill, but denied being part of the syndicate that defrauded the American national.
A member of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, he, too, claims he has written to the DCI for he wants his name cleared.
In November 2024, Mr Adler introduced Mr Hill to Mr Ellis.
Mr Hill said in the meeting, Mr Ellis claimed to be an African king.
“He said that all he wanted was to improve the lives of the people in Africa by helping them get market for their gold as he also paid them a fair price,” said Mr Hill.
Mr Ellis said his 108 Gold LLC, co-owned by a Wayne Oliver, was the largest buyer of African gold.
In December, Mr Adler told Mr Hill of a meeting with a senior East African politician, who would turn out to be the Ugandan lawmaker.
Mr Hill took the bait, and hired Mr Adler as his lawyer for the deal that, on paper, showed prospects of minting a millionaire out of the New York accountant.
By the end of the meeting, Mr Hill had hired the Ugandan minister as a consultant.
Through the Delaware-registered Ascending Ventures, Mr Hill would buy gold, diamonds and other minerals from different African countries.
BSD Properties Ltd
The Uganda minister’s consultancy role included sourcing for the minerals, through his BSD Properties Ltd.
Mr Hill would then sell the minerals to Mr Ellis’s 108 Gold LLC.
A 10-year contract signed by the firm representing the Ugandan lawmaker, and which the Nation has seen, indicates the Ugandan politician was to get 50 per cent of proceeds of mineral sales that Mr Hill made to Mr Ellis.
The Ugandan politician’s company, as per the agreement, was to facilitate sourcing, logistical support and guidance on the processing and certification of the minerals before export, to ensure that the quality of the minerals to be processed and exported is that of internationally accepted standards.
The firm would also provide services relating to due diligence, the market analysis, logistical analysis and quality assurance processes.
“At this point, especially after the paperwork, I started believing that the whole matter was real and a good investment. Little did I know that I was wrong,” he said.
Reached for comment, the Ugandan lawmaker agreed to have met with Randolph Adler and his role since their meeting in mid-December was advising them to set up a gold refinery in his home country.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations Headquarters in Nairobi.
“I told them that it was time they set up a gold refinery in Uganda, instead of moving up and down through agents and lawyers who were out to scam them,” he said.
According to him, all he wanted was to ensure that they get ways in which they can be in the business without being scammed.
Asked whether he was aware that Mr Hill had been scammed, the lawmaker answered in the affirmative but denied knowing any of the people behind the scam.
“I am not part and parcel of that, in fact we have reported the matter in Kenya and complained of gold scammers portraying a wrong image to investors,” he said.
The MP claims that he only wanted to assist Mr Hill as a responsible Ugandan citizen.
The Ugandan minister said that if at all the investors needed any kind of facilitation then he was willing to assist them set up the refineries.
The consultancy contract, however, tells a different story.
Despite being a consultant, his compensation was akin to that of an equal partner – half the sale proceeds – in addition to other costs.
His role in the deal was also relatively big – sourcing for gold across Africa and ensuring that the minerals sourced have no third-party claims.
The politician’s firm was also exposed in the event that it sourced for poor quality minerals. In such circumstances, the firm would have to refund Mr Hill’s Ascending Ventures for any losses.
The firm was also tasked with ensuring that gold was sourced and exported in line laws of the countries involved.
Purchase gold
In mid-December, a few days after Mr Hill and the Ugandan MP signed the consultancy contract, Mr Ellis reached out to the New York-based accountant.
A few days after the signing of the deal, Mr Ellis then informed Mr Hill that he was planning to head to Uganda to purchase gold. This was in mid- December.
Days later in another conversation, Mr Ellis said his partner, Mr Oliver, would be travelling to Kenya following an invite by an unnamed Congolese general.
“This time he also told me that the Ugandan official was involved and some senior government officials in Kenya and that a general from Congo would be in Nairobi as well,” Mr Hill said.
Mr Hill received a video from Mr Ellis, showing boxes with gold ore yet to be smelted.
He forwarded the video to his lawyer, Mr Adler.
Mr Ellis then sent Mr Hill an invoice for $632,885 (Sh82.3m). This was broken down into: $253,125 (Sh32,691,093) for insurance, $85,000 (Sh10,977,750) for smelting, and $294,760 (Sh38,068,254) for a private jet to transport the gold.
The invoice was from a company identified as Ocean Group, to Mr Ellis.
Mr Hill then engaged Mr Adler on the invoice, so as to decide whether to send the money to Mr Ellis.
As he was doing this, the Ocean Group Company was engaging Nairobi lawyer George Ogidi Odete, for assistance in receiving money from the gold deal.
Mr Odete is the SBM Bank company secretary and the Mauritian-owned lender’s in-house lawyer.
Ocean Group wanted the money received in Kenya, and needed a lawyer’s help in setting up an escrow account.
In this arrangement, Mr Odete was to receive money as an escrow agent – to hold the funds until he receives a go-ahead from Ocean Group and Mr Hill’s representatives on where to send the money.
Mr Hill paid the first installment of $338, 125 (Sh43,673,916) through RK Adler & Associates, into a bank account operated by Odete & Company Advocates on December 17, 2024 at 2.20pm.
Mr Hill now asserts that RK Adler did not give Mr Odete consent to release the funds to Ocean Group, and that the Nairobi lawyer violated that part of the escrow agreement.
Whether Mr Odete had instructions to release the funds has been a bone of contention since December, 2024.
Mr Odete did not return our calls or respond to text messages sent to his known mobile phone number between February 20 and 28.
In an email, RK Adler instructed Mr Odete to return the funds, but this did not happen.
When the escrow account issue was just taking shape, Mr Hill also received an invoice from a firm fashioning itself as an airline.
Chopa Jets Global invoiced Mr Hill, through RK Adler & Associates, for $294,760 (Sh38,069,728). This was to cater for transport of gold from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi to the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
As per the invoice, there were to be four passengers on the flight, and 850 kgs of gold.
But Chopa Jets Global is not licensed to operate in Kenya.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said in an email that there is no record of license issuance to Chopa Jets Global.
“After reviewing our records and verifying the details, it has emerged that Chopajets Global Limited does not hold an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) with the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA),” it said.
KCAA said that the certificate is a legal requirement for any company offering commercial air transport services in Kenya.
Chopa Jets Global was incorporated in the UK on August 12, 2024 – barely four months before it was allegedly contracted to fly Mr Hill’s gold from Nairobi to New York.
The firm has two Kenyan owners – Billy Brian Omondi and Veronica Kanini Wambua.
