Dubai Investor Swindled out of Millions in Fake Bullion Scheme, High Court Civil Suit Launched

By Staff Writer

Law enforcement agencies and financial regulators in The Gambia have launched a sweeping investigation into a highly sophisticated transnational gold fraud network. The probe follows revelations that a United Arab Emirates (UAE) commodities trading firm was allegedly swindled out of millions of dollars in a scheme involving fake bullion, forged assay documents, tax evasion, and trade-based money laundering.

Legal documents obtained by Kerr Fatou reveal that Arabia Gulf Diamonds DMCC, an investment firm based in the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) free zone, has filed a massive civil lawsuit in the High Court of The Gambia. Concurrently, the firm’s legal counsel, Farage Andrews Law Practice, has petitioned the Gambian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) to intervene. They are seeking criminal asset forfeitures and tax fraud audits against two licensed Gambian gold brokerages.

At the center of the unfolding scandal are two local entities operating under special government mining licenses: Wuria Ventures Company Limited and B & M Gold & Silver Brokerage Shipping and Services Ltd.

According to a comprehensive Statement of Claim filed at the High Court on May 18, 2026, representatives from Arabia Gulf Diamonds DMCC were approached in March 2026 with an offer to purchase and export a massive 214-kilogram shipment of gold dore bars originating from Guinea. The transaction was brokered and arranged through Wuria Ventures Company Limited and its manager, Sanna Jallow.

To secure an initial 40-kilogram tranche of the gold, valued commercially at $90,000 USD per kilogram, the Dubai firm used an intermediary payment nominee, Safaro Trading Limited. On April 2, 2026, Safaro executed a SWIFT FIN 103 single customer credit transfer of $3,600,000 USD from Access Bank Gambia to Wuria Ventures’ corporate account (No. 62400xxxx) at Ecobank Gambia.

The transaction appeared ironclad. The gold was backed by a “Certificate of Control of Mining Products” issued by KK Gold Refinery Company Ltd in Bijilo. The certificate, dated April 2, 2026, claimed the bullion bars possessed a staggering purity level of 96% to 97% (23 carats). Wuria Ventures also flaunted a valid Special License to possess and deal in gold, silver, and precious metals, issued on November 28, 2025, by the Minister of Petroleum, Energy, and Mines, Nani Juwara.

However, as soon as the $3.6 million USD hit the bank account, the deal completely unraveled. Sanna Jallow and Wuria Ventures allegedly began delaying and obstructing the export process, claiming that additional Guinean paperwork was required to clear the gold for a chartered private aircraft.

Alarmed by the gridlock, the Dubai investors managed to access the physical bars and handed them over to the Gambia Police Force Fraud Squad. Independent forensic testing and a subsequent police chemical assay exposed a shocking deception. The bars, certified by a local refinery as nearly pure gold, were entirely fake—registering a miserable 2% to 5% purity reading.

By the time the fraud was discovered, the $3.6 million USD had been entirely drained. The FIU report reveals that Wuria Ventures executed rapid, massive cash withdrawals almost immediately after receiving the funds, dissipating the money across an untraceable network of individuals. The primary individual presented as the seller, a Guinean national named Ibrahima Ba, has officially absconded from the country and is a fugitive from justice.

As Farage Andrews Law Practice dug deeper into the logistical pipeline on behalf of the defrauded Dubai firm, they exposed a parallel, deeply entrenched tax evasion mechanism involving a second broker, B & M Gold & Silver Brokerage Shipping and Services Ltd.

According to a formal complaint dispatched to the Commissioner General of the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) on May 22, 2026, B & M Brokerage—led by its CEO Musa Bah—induced Arabia Gulf Diamonds into a logistical contract for the shipment of 200 kilograms of gold.

B & M Brokerage issued a Proforma Shipping Invoice totaling $800,000 USD, claiming that $480,000 USD (equivalent to 3% of a baseline $16.6 million USD valuation) was required strictly for “Government Tax,” alongside heavy fees for handling, insurance, and export documentation. The Dubai firm paid the $800,000 USD in cash over two separate tranches ($600,000 USD and $200,000 USD), receiving official receipts marked “for Tax and other Charges – non-refundable.” The receipts were reportedly issued in the name of Doula Mane, allegedly acting as an intermediary of B & M Gold & Silver Brokerage Shipping and Services.

Invoice Expense Line	Applied Percentage	Charged Cost (USD)
Government Tax	3.0% of $16.6M baseline	$480,000.00
Handling Fees	0.5% of $16.6M baseline	$80,000.00
Insurance Premiums	0.5% of $16.6M baseline	$80,000.00
Documentation Charges	1.0% of $16.6M baseline	$160,000.00
GRAND TOTAL	5.0% of Shipment Value	$800,000.00

When lawyers reviewed the official customs declaration records filed by B & M at the Banjul International Airport Cargo office, they discovered a multi-million dollar discrepancy.

Under Gambian financial regulations, export taxes for gold shipments are legally mandated to be assessed at 6% of the actual commercial value. For a 200-kilogram shipment valued at a standard market rate of $90,000 USD per kilo, the commercial worth of the cargo stands at $18,000,000 USD. Therefore, the proper export tax owed to the state should have been $1,080,000 USD—or roughly GMD 78,602,400.00 using the prevailing customs exchange rate of 72.78 Dalasis to $1 USD.

Instead, B & M Brokerage filed an official customs entry declaring a heavily deflated statistical value of just GMD 61,538,444.87 ($840,600 USD). Consequently, B & M paid a mere GMD 4,000,000.00 total to the GRA, consisting of:

• GMD 3,076,923.00 in export duties.
• GMD 923,077.00 in export processing fees.

This reveals a double-layered financial crime. Not only did B & M massively underdeclare values to cheat the Gambian treasury out of tens of millions of Dalasis in public revenue, but they also pocketed the vast majority of the $800,000 USD cash under the false pretense of paying official state taxes.

In a dramatic legal move, Arabia Gulf Diamonds DMCC has asked the High Court of The Gambia to pierce the corporate veils of both Wuria Ventures Company Limited and KK Gold Refinery Company Ltd. The writ of summons names 12 distinct defendants, effectively holding company directors, secretaries, and shareholders personally, jointly, and severally liable for the fraud.

A Single Window Registry search conducted on March 30, 2026, laid bare the ownership structure of Wuria Ventures Company Limited (Incorporation No. 2022/C17583):

• Amadou Jogoh Sowe (Director & 45% Shareholder)
• Ousman Sowe (Director & 25% Shareholder)
• Hassimou Sowe (Director, Corporate Secretary, & 10% Shareholder)
• Adams Med Bangura (Director & 10% Shareholder)
• Alpha Ibrahim Diallo (Director & 10% Shareholder)

The lawsuit alleges that these individuals used their registered corporate entity and a state-issued mining license as an elite “front” to establish institutional trust and lure foreign investment into a calculated trap.

Furthermore, the suit targets KK Gold Refinery Company Ltd and its chief director, Kabineh Kabba. The plaintiff claims that the refinery actively breached its fiduciary duty and acted with gross negligence or willful complicity when issuing fraudulent purity certificates.

During visits to the facility, operations managers noted highly suspicious behavior. Kabineh Kabba reportedly enforced strict, arbitrary rules inside the facility, including a complete ban on cell phones and a total prohibition against the buyers using their own independent XRF (X-ray fluorescence) machines to verify test results. Kabba claimed this was to prevent “disputes” inside the lab. Furthermore, Kabba repeatedly refused to issue official cash receipts for laboratory fees, citing a sudden wave of sickness among his administrative staff.

The plaintiff’s lead counsel, Loubna Farage, is pursuing an aggressive legal strategy, demanding absolute financial restitution alongside heavy punitive awards for conspiracy and deceit. The Writ of Summons lists the following formal demands:

1. Restitution of Principal Capital: An immediate order forcing the defendants to return the $3,600,000 USD wired on total failure of consideration.
2. Wasted Logistical Special Damages: Compensation of $312,786.00 USD for costs completely wasted due to the fraud. This includes $285,582.00 USD for a chartered private jet meant to airlift the gold to Dubai, thousands in commercial round-trip airline tickets, and luxury hotel accommodations in The Gambia for company representatives Leonid Karpukhin and Mohanan Shemesh between March 25 and April 23, 2026.
3. Aggressive Commercial Interest: Pre-judgment interest is levied at a commercial rate of 18% per annum, calculated from the exact day the funds were stolen (April 2, 2026) until judgment is rendered.
4. General Damages: Unspecified heavy punitive damages for fraud, deceit, fraudulent misrepresentation, and corporate conspiracy. This scandal strikes at the heart of the West African mineral trading sector. Farage Andrews Law Practice has formally requested that the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Gambia Revenue Authority step in immediately to determine whether this transaction signals a much wider pattern of underdeclaration and systemic corruption within the national gold export industry.

Regulatory experts warn that the case highlights gaping vulnerabilities in regional trade-based anti-money laundering frameworks. By utilizing valid, state-sanctioned mining licenses from the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and manipulating state customs frameworks with falsified valuations, these syndicates are successfully exploiting institutional gaps to launder illicit cash across international borders.

The FIU is expected to cross-reference banking logs and liaise with international law enforcement counterparts to trace the final distribution points of the $3.6 million USD cash drain. Meanwhile, the High Court of The Gambia is preparing for what promises to be one of the most explosive, high-stakes corporate fraud trials in the nation’s history.