Wife of missing tycoon Tob Cohen questioned

Dutch tycoon Tob Cohen and his wife Sarah Kamotho. Mr Cohen has been missing since July 19, 2019. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • Ms Kamotho and the employees maintained that Mr Cohen left on his own volition.
  • It was Gabriela who blew the whistle on the disappearance of her brother and informed the Dutch police who called their Kenyan embassy and sought information.

As the mystery of missing Dutch tycoon Tob Cohen deepens, police have interrogated Sarah Kamotho — his estranged wife — as they try to unravel the whereabouts of the Kenyan-based businessman.

So far, they have no leads on what happened to the golf events millionaire who had an ongoing divorce case in court and had filed assault charges against his wife of 12 years.

Chances of getting CCTV footage of his last moments at the Lower Kabete house on July 19 evaporated after police were told that the cameras at the gate were placed on August 3, exactly two weeks after Mr Cohen left home.

The only chance left is if they can get footage from a neighbouring house, or from street cameras.

Police sources say that the workers, whom they have interrogated, and supported by Ms Kamotho, had said that Mr Cohen had removed the cameras and that they were replaced only after he went missing.

COMMON HABIT

Mr Cohen, well-known in golf circles, has been missing since July 19 and had neither contacted his family and friends shortly after he was picked by a “white car” at his gate, according to his workers.

Why a man who had expressed fear over his life and written to the police would tamper with security cameras — but built a high-security wall — is not yet clear; and it is one of the questions that police are grappling with.

“Police were told that though the wiring had been done, Mr Cohen had removed the cameras at the gate,” said a police source.

The Nation has established that over the weekend detectives returned to Mr Cohen’s house and interrogated his wife and workers who maintained that Mr Cohen left on his own volition.

“Apparently, the wife was very composed during the interrogation and told us that Mr Cohen at times disappears only to resurface after two weeks,” said a detective.

PHONE TRACKING

But speaking to Nation on Sunday from Amsterdam, Mr Cohen’s sister, Gabriela, said she spoke to Cohen on the day he disappeared and did not indicate that he was ailing and would travel.

“We spoke twice that day and he did not tell me he was leaving. For several months, we had agreed that we would be talking daily because he was living in fear of his life,” said Gabriela.

It was Gabriela who blew the whistle on the disappearance of her brother and informed the Dutch police who called their Kenyan embassy and sought information. The Dutch Embassy in Nairobi reached out to the DCI.

Mr Cohen’s sister is now frightened that police might not make any headway.

With detectives finding no CCTV evidence of the day Mr Cohen left, we have reliably learnt that on Tuesday they will focus on phone data to help trace Mr Cohen’s moments.

While it has emerged that he never left the country, it is now established that his phone went off near Parklands on July 20.

Ms Kamotho had told both the police and the Nation that Mr Cohen was “mentally disturbed” and that he was leaving for Thailand to seek treatment.