Online affair with Shs400m benefit ends in court battle

A chance meeting online nine years ago that led to bonding, trust and love-induced investment plans back home has ended up in court.

But the Ugandan “immigration lawyer” based in the United Kingdom (UK) has now failed to recover more than Shs400m invested in the long-distance liaison with benefits.

Mr Peter Ziruntusa, alias Peter Campbell, who has been based in the UK since 2004, sued Resty Meribel Mbabazi, Desire Mwesigwa Lutabaire, Johnson Asaba Byaruhanga, aka Faisal Waissa, and Jackson Musitwa Mugwanya, seeking recovery of Shs422,210,865 million. 

But High Court Justice Musa Ssekaana on Friday dismissed the case with no costs. He said Mr Ziruntusa had failed to prove his claims for the recovery of the money.

“The plaintiff (Ziruntusa) has failed to prove his claims for recovery of the money sent to the 1st defendant (Mbabazi) under unclear circumstances. Unmarried or cohabitants have no right to recovery of money made or contributed in such a relationship unless it is jointly owned by registration or joint bank account or such other ownership, which infers clear joint ownership,” Justice Ssekaana ruled.

The judge said in cases of concubine or meretricious cohabitation, neither party has the right to seek compensation for services provided or contributions made to the relationship, unless the seeking party was misled into believing the relationship was a valid marriage or acted under duress.

“The plaintiff (Ziruntusa) failed to define his relationship with the 1st defendant and his denials are inconsistent with the circumstances surrounding the entire case. He has relatives in Uganda who would have been used to supervise his projects or even facilitate his investment plans in Uganda. 

He offered no explanation why he opted and trusted the 1st defendant as his investment partner who was a total stranger whom he had just met via Facebook,” Justice Ssekaana held.

There was no consideration for the alleged oral contract between the plaintiff and the 1st defendant, which is quite unbelievable and inconsistent with the evidence on record. The relationship between the plaintiff and the 1st defendant was not a commercial one but rather a romantic or sexual relationship which ought not to be converted into a contract or trust.”

In his suit, Mr Ziruntusa stated that he connected with Mbabazi in November 2015, on Facebook, leading to an oral investment agreement in Uganda in 2016, with Mbabazi overseeing the investments.

Mr Ziruntusa said between November 17, 2016, and January 31, 2019, he sent to Mbabazi more than Shs300m through money remittance agencies, including MTN, Sendwave, and Salabed.

“He contended that he ordered an audit which was carried out; however he was not satisfied with the report. He subsequently filed a criminal complaint in November 2019, and investigations confirmed the 1st defendant's involvement in fraudulent activities by way of an alleged case of forgery and obtaining money by false pretences,” read part the court document.

But in their defence, the four defendants denied the allegations, saying they never entered an oral agreement or borrowed from Mr Ziruntusa but acknowledged an oral partnership to build a medical centre in Mukono, where he (Ziruntusa) was to provide 40 percent financial support but failed to meet the obligation.

 Ms Mbabazi, who is the first defendant in the case, said Ziruntusa approached her on Facebook, expressed interest in establishing a romantic relationship to which she did not respond until November 2015 when she did after his persistent messages.

She said Ziruntusa informed her he is a Ugandan lawyer based in the United Kingdom and that after establishing a romantic relationship with her, he picked interest in her activities and projects during which she shared her plans to set up a clinic with her brother but was facing financial constraints.

“The defendant pleaded that the money sent to her was through MTN lines and the reason was always “family support” and she used the money for that purpose and also to jointly acquire some property with the plaintiff,” reads in part the court document,” the court document reads in part.

The court heard that Ziruntusa misrepresented to Mbabazi that he was a passionate immigration lawyer called Peter Campbell and was interested in protecting and providing for vulnerable children since Mbabazi was already engaged in philanthropic activities. 

It was further stated that they incorporated Hopeland Mercy Ministries and Ziruntusa was included as a fellow guarantor or member to whom he used the organisation to send property as donations and would later sell it off to make a profit and was only using the organisation to evade taxes.

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