Ketani Somaia dubbed “King Con” ordered to pay back a record £38.6m by a British Court for swindling millionaire investors
- Former tycoon Ketan Somaia, 53, duped investors into lending him millions
- Spent £100,000 on daughter’s wedding and lent £40,000 to a family friend
- Judge called him ‘formidable and serial fraudsman on truly Olympian scale’
- Convicted after victim Murli Mirchandani launched private prosecution
Former Moi era Kenyan tycoon Ketan Somaia, 53, is serving eight years behind bars after being found guilty of conning two businessmen out of loans in 1999 and 2000, which were never repaid. He was fined equivalent of Ksh 5.6 billion.
Early last year the ‘truly Olympian’ fraudster was ordered to pay back a record £38.6 million after being convicted of swindling millionaire investors in one of the biggest private prosecutions in Britain. He was convicted in a prosecution brought privately by the main victim Murli Mirchandani.
Judge Richard Hone QC today made the biggest ever confiscation order of its kind, with £18.2 million to go to Mr Mirchandani and £20.4 million to go into the public purse.

Murli Mirchandani – victim
In his ruling, the judge said: ‘Ketan Somaia has to be described as a formidable and serial fraudsman on a truly Olympian scale.’
He added that it was ‘quite clear that Somaia was in receipt of significant sums and his lifestyle continued to be lavish until he was imprisoned in July 2014’.
He had spent £100,000 on his daughter’s wedding, made a £40,000 loan to a family friend and was spending huge sums on luxury holidays, restaurants and hotels as well as making substantial transfers to his family and friends.
Despite claiming in court that all the money had gone, the evidence showed Somaia owned two properties held in the names of third parties worth more than £1 million.
Somaia, dubbed ‘King Con’, had no assets in his own name but would use family members, staff and advisers as fronts or nominees to evade tax and conceal his personal interests. He has been a resident in the UK since 2009 but never paid any tax in this country, claiming he was not sure of his status here.

The trial heard how Somaia never invested or repaid the money he borrowed from investors Mr Mirchandani and Dilip Shah, but instead used it for his own purposes or to prop up his ailing business empire.
The defendant, who was born in Kenya and lived in Bayswater, west London, had shown similar dishonest behaviour towards a third investor and tried to evade justice until he was brought to account in a British court.
Following today’s ruling, Mr Mirchandani said: ‘The theft of £13.5 million by Ketan Somaia from me has had a devastating effect on my life, my health, my business, and regrettably, on my family.
‘My entire family and I were left completely broken by this cruel fraud and for many years we believed that we would never see Somaia brought to justice and pay for what he has done.
‘It was heartbreaking to hear during these proceedings how Mr Somaia was spending a small fortune in luxury restaurants and hotels in London and distributing money that was the result of decades of hard work by my family business, to his own family and friends, who were living the life of royalty.’
He added: ‘I am now very much looking forward to closing this chapter of my life and look positively to the future.’
If Somaia fails to pay the money ordered by Judge Hone, he faces an additional prison sentence of 16 years.
Somaia was previously jailed for eight years at London’s Old Bailey (pictured). Judge Richard Hone QC called him ‘a formidable and serial fraudsman on a truly Olympian scale’ as he made a confiscation order, with £18.2 million to go to Mr Mirchandani and £20.4 million to go into the public purse.
During Dictator Daniel arap Moi Somaia was a globe trotter flashing a Kenya government International Purchase Orders with which he conned many institutions. Local banks like National Bank of Kenya was conned into paying for old London-look taxis Somaia collected from a dump yard and sold to Kenyans.
His BCCI and Delphis Banks were used to fleece millions of shillings before they tumbled after he siphoned cash away. Fellow Asians conned by Somaia included tycoon Diamond Lalji and fellow looter Kamlesh Pattni. Pattni has since paid himself back with the same coin he lent Somaia by grabbing all his assets in Kenya and the Arab world.