The diplomat says he agreed to purchase each kilogramme of gold at $45,000 (Shs165m). PHOTO/FILE
An envoy from the Gulf States has claimed he was ensnared by a racket purporting to deal in gold and conned of $241,000 (about Shs881m) between December 2023 and January this year.
His revelation comes on the heels of the Monitor story published on Tuesday titled: “How investor lost Shs5b in gold scam.”
The envoy, who asked not to be named because of his diplomatic status, said he elected to speak out after reading the Monitor story, which bears a similar pattern of deceit.
The envoy alleged that his friends, who he identified as Gilbert Kevin Jimmy Kwizera and Nasser Sebunya were behind the deal.
When contacted yesterday, the duo acknowledged knowing the diplomat and the gold deal but denied being part of the racket that scammed him.
“I have never received any money from Hon Doctor. [His] allegations do not make good stories and I implore you to follow the paper trail, follow the money he paid and you will find a story. I am totally innocent and not party to any scam,” Mr Kwizera, who is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, told Monitor via a WhatsApp chat on October 2.
Relatedly, Mr Sebunya, who is in Rwanda, responded through a WhatsApp call: “It pisses me off to see that Doctor is pinning me in this entire matter yet my role was simply to transport the gold from the border to Kampala, which I did.”
The Monitor could not independently find any wrongdoing on the part of Mr Kwizera and Mr Sebunya.
The envoy claims he implored those he had contracted to supply him with gold to refund his money but this was in vain.
On May 15, he petitioned sleuths at the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (CID) to help him recover the funds spent on this phantom purchase.
In a May 21 email, the directorate informed him it had allocated his case to a detective.
We were unable to get a comment from the CID by press time.
How it started
During an interview at his office yesterday, the diplomat claimed he was approached by his friend, who wanted to establish a drug factory in Uganda worth $30m (about Shs110b).
“But since he deals in gold, he asked me to connect him to trusted people who can get him genuine gold and we export it to Dubai. Since I had known Kwizera for over 10 years and he was dealing in that business, I decided to contact him to help us out,” he said.
Mr Kwizera, the diplomat claimed, accepted and later introduced a man who claimed to be a Congolese gold dealer identified as Alekuku Balunmanya. The dealer claimed to have 250kg of gold, which was stuck at the Uganda-DRC border and required to be transported to Kampala.
“At that stage, Mr Kwizera introduced me to another gentleman by the name of Sebunya Nasser, also known as Big Nasser, who told me that money amounting to $5,000 (Shs18m) was required to transport and transfer the said gold consignment to Kampala for testing, which I paid instantly,” he said.
The consignment, the diplomat claims, was transported to Kampala on January 8, and stored at a security services firm that was by then situated at Plot 4, Close 113, Industrial Area in Kampala.
The diplomat said he agreed to purchase each kilogramme of gold at $45,000 (Shs165m). According to the agreement terms, the payment was supposed to be made after the consignment reached Dubai.
The envoy says the consignment weighing 250kg was later taken to Euro Gold Refineries (EGR) located in Kamwokya, Kampala, where the product tested positive.
“This was done in the presence of the purported staff of the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) identified as Gilbert, who was clad in a URA attire. After the process of testing the sample, Gilbert told us that we need to pay taxes to the tax authority before the consignment is shipped to Dubai,” the diplomat revealed.
He added: “Gilbert advised us to pay a sum of $167,000 (Shs611m) as taxes for the said consignment. The said money [was] to be paid through the account of the law firm by the names of M & K. Advocates. This law firm is located at BMK House third-floor plot 4-5 Nyabong Road off Wampewo Avenue opposite Hotel Africana main gate,” he said.
When contacted, Gilbert, whose cellphone number was shared by the envoy, said it is not true.
“I don’t know who that is and I really don’t know who gave you my number. It’s been five years since I was in Uganda.”
Monitor has seen a January 10 computer-generated payment slip alleged to be for Stanbic Bank indicating an amount of $167,000, which was transferred to the account belonging to M&K Advocates.
Monitor could not independently verify this receipt because the Stanbic Bank spokesperson asked for more time to verify the transaction, and there is no evidence which has been adduced in any court of law implicating M&K Advocates.
When the consignment arrived at the airport, the diplomat said another official he identified as Calvin, who purported to be from the URA and was meant to clear it informed him that he had underpaid the taxes and needed to pay an additional $44,000 (Shs161m).
“They wanted an extra $44,000 so that they could ship the whole 250kg consignment since they are captured in one airway bill. The time was approaching 4pm and we had already booked a ticket to Dubai. We strived through friends and we raised the $44,000 and handed over cash to Calvin. We later realised that even the airway bill we were given was fake. I took the initiative and reported the matter to the police,” the diplomat said.
A case of fraud reference number CRB002/2024, was reported at Entebbe Police Station on January 14.
“A boy who had brought the fake papers to me and I paid him $1,100 (Shs4m) was arrested and detained. This one helped police to trace the cartel and make more arrests. We found out that the office these people hired at the Entebbe cargo house is used by these thugs to rob foreigners by conning them in such a manner,” he said.
The envoy claims the manager at the security services firm was detained but to his dismay, all the arrested people were granted police bond.
Accused speak out
Mr Kwizera further said: “I have introduced him to many people in the world. Just like how you introduce people to others, this does not make you responsible for people’s actions. People make free choices. Let him sincerely start with the person he paid. I did not at all participate in his transactions,” he said.
On his part, Ssebunya said: “I found the diplomat dealing with the Congolese already. I am not the one who introduced the Congolese to him. I gave him an agent whom he started dealing with, including officials of the URA. My role in that entire deal was to transport the cargo from the border, which I did. He was taken to EGR [Euro Gold Refinery] and tested it [gold].”
Mr Robert Kalumba, the public and corporate affairs manager at URA, said the individuals involved in the scam posed as URA staff.
“They are not URA staff,” he said.
The Monitor also tried to speak to the security firm but our efforts to reach them were futile by press time.
