The State House Anti-corruption Unit (SHACU), in liaison with the Uganda Police have arrested two officials of the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board (DAPCB) for alleged forgery, obtaining money by false pretense and conspiracy to commit a felony.
It is alleged that George William Bizibu, 55, the Executive Secretary of the board and John Byagagaire, 35, an accountant defrauded various people of money promising to allocate them property.
According to the ongoing investigations on alleged acts of extortion and fraud within the board, the SHACU detectives have unearthed evidence pinning the two officials of allegedly defrauding people of money and instead issued them allocation letters and receipts.
According to charge sheets made on June 08, 2022 by the police investigators, Bizibu and Byagagaire are charged with four counts including forgery, contrary to section 342 and 347 of the Penal Code Act and obtaining money by false pretense contrary to section 304 and 305 of the Penal Code Act.
According to the charge sheet, Bizibu, a resident of Ocheng Zone in Nansana Municipality in Wakiso district on December 20, 2020 at Kampala, with intention to defraud obtained sh5m from Rebekah Mugisha. It is said he purported that he was going to allocate her a property under the DAPCB comprised in Plot 6/8 Kibira Road whereas not.
In another count, it is alleged that Bizibu and others still at large, between the months of August and September 2020 at Kampala, forged a DAPCB temporary allocation letter in the names of Rebekah Kabugo Mugisha for a property on Plot 6/8 Kibira Road purporting that it was authentically issued, whereas not.
Byagagaire and others still at large, in count three, are accused of forgery. It is alleged that between the months of August and September 2020 at Kampala, they forged the board’s receipts in the names of Rebekah Kabugo for the same property.
The two were by Wednesday evening still being detained in the KCCA cells and were scheduled to be arraigned in the KCCA court.
In March 2022, President Yoweri Museveni directed DAPCB to fast track the recovery of numerous properties formerly under the management of the board but believed to have been fraudulently taken over or sold off to individuals by corrupt officials.
Bizibu confirmed to journalists about the President’s directive, which he said followed a recommendation by the 10th parliament about the missing properties.
Parliament was also concerned that some of the properties for which the government had compensated the owners were repossessed by the same people. The Auditor General also raised a red flag for the repossession of property by unknown claimants that was compensated for by the government.