Lang’ata MP Phelix Odiwuor, popularly known as Jalango, now says he will not pursue legal action against a newspaper publication that implicated him and two other politicians in a Sh 1 billion fake gold scam.
The scam reportedly involved a Tunisian national narrowly avoiding falling victim to a fraudulent scheme.
The embattled Jalango, an online interview, explained his change of heart regarding the lawsuit against the said newspaper.
I don’t even know where the story came from. When you read the story, you know there is no substance. It is clickbait. My name is clean,” Jalango said.
On September 12, 2023, Jalango shared a screenshot of an article published by Citizen Weekly in which he was implicated as one of the youthful parliamentarians arrested by investigators from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The lawmaker responded to the article by stating, “Rogue media must be dealt with! After the steps I take against (the publication), I don’t think they will ever sit down and write defamatory stories about anyone again, then call to extort you in the name of ‘we will clean your name!’ I’ll not fall for that nonsense! Good day!”
According to the article, the DCI arrested several suspects, including lawmakers from the Rift Valley, Nyanza, and Nairobi regions, as well as a Senator, an MP, and a Kitui-based DCI officer.
The arrest took place at a Nairobi estate where they were found in possession of counterfeit gold and fake dollars, which they intended to sell to the Tunisian national.
The Tunisian national had arrived in Kenya two weeks prior, but no one had met him upon his arrival.
A taxi driver eventually picked him up, taking him to Ngara, a city suburb, where he had to wait for a week until the suspects reached out to him.
He was expected to pay Sh 400 million to view the gold and an additional Sh 600 million after the gold had been smelted and handed over to him for verification.
On September 7, 2023, when the Tunisian returned to complete the transaction, he arrived in the company of DCI officers who raided the office and arrested ten suspects, while two others managed to escape.
The police seized a pistol, counterfeit currency, several mobile phones, and metallic boxes containing fake dollars during the operation.
