Nairobi, April 19 -- Old money is silent-perhaps as silent as the billions quietly minted by reclusive tycoon Mohamed Jaffer, who for decades has dictated the wheat and other imported cereals that end up on Kenyan dinner plates, as well as the gas used to cook them.

With a keen nose for cash-minting opportunities, Mr Jaffer has built a reputation for pulling off mega deals in times of crisis-often unseen and unheard, operating firmly in the shadows.

Now in his late 70s, the Mombasa-based businessman is known among industry insiders as intensely private, methodical and fiercely protective of his commercial turf.

But a controversial fuel import deal-where One Petroleum Ltd is said to have shipped in 60,000 tonnes of fuel outside the gove...