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BoU shs60 Billion Heist: Accountant General, 8 others arrested

Bank of Uganda Headquarters

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Accountant General Lawerence Semakula and eight others have been arrested following the disappearance of $17M (UGX60B) from the Bank of Uganda (BOU).

Money mysteriously disappeared from BOU in September 2024 and ended up in foreign accounts in The United Kingdom (UK) and Asian countries such as Japan.

Since then, the  Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) in collaboration with Defence Intelligence and Security (DIS) formerly Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) has been interrogating various individuals from BOU, the Ministry of Finance and the Accountant General.

CID and DIS probe has zeroed in on nine individuals who orchestrated a hoax payment of a purported contractor and instructed BOU to disburse the money.

The others arrested are Jennifer Muhurizi, Mubarak Nansamba, Paul Lumala, Mark Kasuku, Judith Asaba, Deborah Kusiima, Tonny Yawe, and Priscilla Nayebare.

Assistant Commissioner of Police- ACP Kituuma Rusoke, the Police Spokesperson, confirmed the arrest of nine individuals. It is not clear what role each of the suspects played in the theft of 60 billion shillings.

BOU money heist was first described as a hacker’s handwork which was later disproved by CID’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Once CID discovered that it was not hacking but a well-orchestrated fraudulent payment, President Yoweri Museveni directed DIS to join the probe.

By the end of last year, 21 staff at BOU, the Ministry of Finance and the accountant general had been interrogated, and their electronic gadgets including mobile phones and laptops had been confiscated and subjected to examination.

URN through interaction with various sources discovered that out of the 60 billion shillings, BOU was able to recover more than half of it through engaging UK banks. However, BOU was unable to succeed in recovering money that ended in Asian countries.

There is also a probe clue that the money that is said to have ended in Asian countries was actually withdrawn and clandestinely returned to Ugandan beneficiaries in cash or items procured for them. All this information will be proved or disproved by the evidence that will be tabled in court during the trial of the suspects.

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URN

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