What started as a relationship between a Swedish expatriate and a Ugandan girl working in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates has turned into a case of fraud involving over sh3b. This was after Hanifa Kakeeto, who was working as a casual labourer in Abu Dhabi, met with the expatriate in 2019 and she became his girlfriend.
Thereafter, Kakeeto allegedly colluded with her other friends to defraud the Swedish nuclear energy engineer (name withheld on request by investigators) of his money. Police, who have since opened up a general inquiry file number 031/2022, said their investigations indicate that when Kakeeto returned to Kampala in 2021, the expatriate replaced her with Desire Arzu Namugerwa.
The two girls; Kakeeto and Namugerwa, allegedly jointly conned the expatriate of over sh3b, which prompted him to report a case to Ugandan authorities through his Kampala lawyers, Mugarura, Kwarisiima and Company Advocates.
According to lawyer Erias Twebaze, Police have since arrested Kakeeto and Namugerwa’s boyfriend, Christoffer Boyden alias Eric Lubinga, while Namugerwa is still on the run.
Twebaze said the suspects were being detained at Nansana Police Station in Wakiso district. Investigations show that Lubinga claimed to be a Police officer investigating a case of sexual assault that Kakeeto and Namugerwa claimed to have opened up against the expatriate in Kampala.
“The said Lubinga is the one who told the expatriate to deposit the money to different accounts in the US and Turkey, through which the fraud was carried out,” said a detective. Police are also looking for other suspected accomplices in the fraud, who include Ritah Nassuuna, Jennifer Nalweyiso and Hildah Nassuuna.
File transferred to headquarters
The case file was initially handled at Nansana, but it has since been transferred to the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) headquarters at Kibuli in Kampala.
Sources revealed that the transfer of the file followed reports that some CID officers, who were handling the case at Nansana Police Station, reportedly forced one of the suspects to withdraw about sh60m from her account in Absa bank.
As a result, Police has since opened up a case against two of its officers at the Police’s Professional Standards Unit over allegedly coercing the suspects to withdraw part of the stolen money.
“The detectives were detained and questioned for about two hours before they were released, as investigations into the matter continue,” a source at CID revealed. Investigations show that Namugerwa was last year deported from Abu Dhabi and she was reportedly incensed that the expatriate was behind her deportation.
“We discovered that Kakeeto and Namugerwa knew each other, and when Namugerwa returned to Kampala, the two conspired to defraud the expatriate,” a detective said.
The duo allegedly embarked on a blackmail campaign against the expatriate, accusing him of sexually assaulting them. The two girls allegedly demanded that the expatriate pays them or they expose him, which prompted him to release over sh3b in tranches.
According to Police, the expatriate admitted to having had a sexual relationship with both girls, but he denied having been behind the deportation of Namugerwa. The girls, Police said, also told the expatriate that they had opened up a case at the High Court in Kampala, whereas not.
“The girls also sent a message to the expatriate threatening that they were going to forward the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC),” a detective revealed. This prompted the expatriate to contact authorities in Uganda.
“These girls kept on threatening me with court cases, including reporting to the ICC, yet I knew them as my friends. What made me panic is when they said they would call my wife in Sweden and tell her about the alleged sexual assault case,” the expatriate is quoted as saying.
But when detectives cross-checked with court to establish whether the suspects had lodged a case against him as alleged, it was found to be false.
Judiciary speaks out
According to a clarification from the High Court deputy registrar, Festo Nsenga, the Judiciary does not have a case filed by the accused persons.
“The Judiciary does not have a division known as the ‘Human Rights Division’ as portrayed in the purported notice of appeal which was presented to the expatriate,” the registrar stated. Nsenga added that Justice Tadeo Asiimwe, who is also indicated to be the presiding judge, was unaware of the judgement that is being alluded to by the suspects.
He states that their system shows no case of similar particulars with those in the ‘Notice of Appeal” which was lodged in the “Human Rights High Court Division”. The registrar, however, advised the detectives to get to the bottom of the matter by working closely with the Court of Appeal registrar and the law firms cited in the “Notice of Appeal”.
Money suspected to fund terrorism
The discovery came at a time when security was investigating reports that the expatriate could have been sending money to fund terrorism activities in Uganda. The expatriate sent about 20 tranches of dirhams and dollars, ranging from 18,388.99 dirhams to 367,262.321 dirhams between September 7 to December 27, 2021. In total, the expatriate sent 3,045,733.1 dirhams (sh3.178b).
“My bank, HSBC has been asking me about the purpose of the money I sent to Uganda,” the expatriate, who security agencies declined to name, reportedly said in a statement sent to police, a copy of which Sunday Vision has seen.
According to Police, the expatriate claims that after one of his tormentors (Lubinga) told him to deposit money into different accounts in the US and Turkey, his bankers, HSBC bank, also opened up investigations into the transactions.
Property seized
Following the arrest of Kakeeto and Lubinga, Police have since impounded a car allegedly belonging to Kakeeto and household property, including expensive furniture and electronics.
