Bidco Africa chief executive officer Vimal Shah lost over Sh100 million in a forex deal gone bad. The businessman made this revelation when he testified against his former long-time friend and businessman Nicholas Nesbitt at a Nairobi court.
He became the latest victim in what has become a common trend of Kenyans losing money in forex deals.
According to Mr Shah, he was introduced to this deal by Nik Nesbitt who had promised him easy access to US currency at a time when Kenya appeared to have a shortage of the currency.
According to Vimal Shah, the forex deal with Nik Nesbitt took place in the first half of 2023. Before he lost the huge amount of money, Shah had apparently undertaken similar deals in the months of March and April 2023.
However, it was the deal he did with Nesbitt in May of that year that went sour. Mr Shah told the court that in the deal, he was to part with Kenyan currency and receive the equivalent amount in US currency the next day.
“He [Nik Nesbitt] visited my home and said the source was reliable. We buy foreign currencies from banks regularly because we import raw materials,” he told the court.
Nik then allegedly introduced Shah to a British-Turkish businessman who was identified as Mehemet Bulent Boytorum. This businessman was the co-director of Bee N Bee Limited which was a business that back then was registered in London, United Kingdom.
Mehemet is currently in hiding. He disappeared in 2025 after his release from police custody on bail.
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After the introduction, Mr Shah transferred an amount totaling Sh102,437,500 to Bee N Bee (K) Ltd’s account at Standard Chartered Bank on May 24, 2023. In return, he expected a transfer of USD745,000 after the parties in the deal agreed to an exchange rate of Sh137.50 to the US dollar the next day.
“If you give the shillings today, your dollars are in tomorrow. And it’s all legitimate,” Shah narrated the assurances he was given.
Shah told the court that when he made the transfer, Nik assured him that the deal was legitimate and that the equivalent US currency amount would be transferred to him without delay. He also told the court that Nik had presented the British-Turkish individual as an expert in cryptocurrency transactions who could facilitate foreign currency conversions through stablecoins and other digital assets.
Apparently, this businessman was also behind a business known as BNX Partners which conducted similar deals.
“I trusted him. He is the one who introduced Mr Bulent to me. He is the one who brought him to me. He also referred me to their bankers, which I confirmed they had been transacting with, and I believed him,” Shah told the court.The parties
This forex deal was then formalized through a Trade Finance Agreement dated May 23, 2023. To Mr Shah’s shock, the promised dollars were never delivered.
Instead, Nik and the British-Turkish entrepreneur started to avoid him when he became persistent in trying to recover his money.
