Everytime I read about Dikembe Mutombo and this Gold Scam he tried to pull, I always imagine him at a computer, chuckling sending emails about $23 million waiting for me in a bank account in the Congo, if I just hand over my bank account number.
The short version of Mutombo’s scam went like this. He was going to buy the gold on the cheap and then flip it for higher profits. Very similar to how drug dealers operate, to be honest. The deal went bad (shocking right), but there was some fall out from it.
A Flight Attendant, who was working on one of the planes, that was supposed to ship the gold to Mutombom was arrested and now she is suing him.
Mutombo was allegedly hoping to score $10 million by flipping Congolese gold — and it all went haywire when wanted warlord Bosco Ntaganda got involved.
According to her suit, flight attendant Kelly Shannon was part of the crew aboard the plane Mutombo chartered to fly his associates and $7 million to pick up the gold … back in February 2011.
In the docs, Shannon says their departure from the Congo was delayed for 2 days, and when the gold was finally being loaded onto the plane … armed guards showed up, arrested everyone, and held them at a hotel for the next 42 days.
Shannon claims she’s suffered severe emotional trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder — and she’s demanding unspecified damages.
Mutombo wasn’t on the flight (smart man), but reports are, that he didn’t get his money back, so in the end, he took a big L.
At least he has those Geico commercials to keep some money in his pocket.