Police Summons Businessman Wambogo Over Suspected Money Laundering

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has summoned Mbale renowned businessman Moses Wambogo for questioning over an alleged Shs 12b money laundering case.

Wambogo is said to have been summoned by the Financial Intelligence Authority of Uganda (FIA) through the CID to be investigated as required under the Anti Money Laundering Act, 2013 (as amended in 2017) in total protection and enforcement of the Ugandan laws.

This website has been reliably informed by sources at the CID Headquarters; Wambogo who received Shs 12b on his account in two deposits , was represented by his lawyer Francis Musinguzi on Monday 13^th March, 2022 who spent hours at CID in a meeting restricted to press.

Speaking to our reporter this evening, Musinguzi who declined to reveal the details of the meeting at CID headquarters said his client Wambogo is a law abiding citizen and an investor who has business partners both within and outside the country whose investments are benefiting Ugandans through employment and paying revenues to government.

‘’We are strong that our client is safe and he respects law. We shall respect authorities and it’s the reason why I am here for the meeting at CID. However there is no need to freeze our client’s accounts and cripple his businesses .Therefore we ask authorities to respect his rights as a Ugandan and Businessman helping to transform the economy of Uganda’’, said Musinguzi in a phone interview on Monday evening.

Wambogo’s lawyers accuse authorities of freezing their client’s bank accounts containing shs 12b without giving an accused person a fair hearing which contravenes the right to a fair hearing based on Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

They added that Wambogo should be allowed to enjoy his mandate as a businessman and a Ugandan with a sound reputation.

Police did not comment about the matter by press time.

MONEY LAUNDERING

Generally, Money laundering is the conversion or transfer of property; the concealment or disguising of the nature of the proceeds; the acquisition, possession or use of property, knowing that these are derived from criminal activity; or participating in or assisting the movement of funds to make the proceeds appear legitimate.

Money obtained from certain crimes, such as extortion, insider trading, insider fraud, and deceptive transactions, illegal and irregular debits is “dirty” and needs to be “cleaned” to appear to have been derived from legal activities, so that banks and other financial institutions will deal with it without suspicion. Money can be laundered by many methods that vary in complexity and sophistication.

Money laundering involves three steps: The first involves introducing cash into the financial system by some means (“placement”); the second involves carrying out complex financial transactions to camouflage the illegal source of the cash “layering”; and finally, acquiring wealth generated from the transactions of the illicit funds (“integration”).

According to the United States Treasury Department, the illegitimate funds are furtively introduced into the legitimate financial system. Then, the money is moved around to create confusion, sometimes by wiring or transferring through numerous accounts. Finally, it is integrated into the financial system through additional transactions until the “dirty money” appears “clean”.