Prime
Two Ugandans among four detained in Malaysia over laundering Shs54b
FIA’s report rates the money laundering threat for cybercrime as high. It notes that the major conduits for cybercrime in Uganda are e-mail and website scams where people lose “huge amounts of money” buying non-existent products. Photo/ File
What you need to know:
- The quartet, which was allegedly found in possession of passports of at least three countries, are Abdul Malik Muwonge, John Bosco Mukalazi (both Ugandans); Nigerian Michael Ebuka, and Kenyan Samuel Kimani.
Four people, including two Ugandans, a Kenyan and a Nigerian national, have reportedly been arrested in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur over allegations of laundering $15m (about Shs53.8 billion).
“After weeks of being trailed by Malaysian Police and other security agencies, they were arrested at [a hotel] in the Malaysian capital,” a highly-placed security source said on Monday.
The quartet, which was allegedly found in possession of passports of at least three countries, are Abdul Malik Muwonge, John Bosco Mukalazi (both Ugandans); Nigerian Michael Ebuka, and Kenyan Samuel Kimani.
This newspaper could not independently verify the reports and the names given to us. However, when contacted, police spokesperson Fred Enanga said: “This is for Foreign Affairs to comment about the plight of Ugandans arrested abroad.”
Mr Henry Oryem Okello, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs (International Affairs), when contacted, said: “Our ambassador to Malaysia (Betty Bigombe), is the best person to update you. She’s been there for three weeks now and she is best placed to update you on what efforts she is doing there.”
Efforts to speak to Ms Bigombe were futile by press time as her known telephone numbers were off.
The laws
Money laundering involves disguising financial assets so they can be used without detection of the illegal activity that produced them. Through money laundering, the criminal transforms the monetary proceeds derived from criminal activity into funds with an apparently legal source.
In Malaysia, the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (“AMLA Act”) is the primary piece of anti-money laundering (“AML”) and countering the financing of terrorism (“CFT”) legislation in Malaysia.
The AMLA Act stipulates a maximum imprisonment term of 15 years and a fine of no less than five times the sum or value of the unlawful activity or instrumentalities of an offence at the time the money laundering offence was committed, or MYR 5,000,000.00, whichever is higher.
