Activist Prof Jimmy Spire Ssentongo has brought to the fore the plight of Kazakhstan investors who accuse Ugandans of defrauding them in a gold deal.
Ssentongo says he had met the Kazakhstan investors in the US where he had gone as one of the nine awardees of the Anti-Corruption Champions Award.
That he met a lawyer from Kazakhstan, one of the awardees, who on learning that he was from Uganda had revealed that his gold dealer brother had “had a terrible experience in Uganda.”
Embarrassed by claims of gold fraud associated with his country, Prof Ssentongo has come out to call for an investigation into the matter, and for protection of foreign traders and investors from a failing administrative system that fraudsters are exploiting.
“He was defrauded then threatened out of the country by people, some of whom claimed a close relationship with the President. I felt very embarrassed as a Ugandan, that my national identification brought to mind such painful experiences among other people that have fallen victim to vices we have normalised in our country,” narrated Ssentongo.
“We can’t claim to be encouraging investors/traders to come to Uganda when we can’t protect them from such nasty experiences. They will simply discourage others from trying Uganda. The price of corruption, impunity, and institutional failures is higher than what we think we benefit from those vices as a country. No business can sustainably thrive where there is no trust and sense of security. I hope this gentleman finds justice.”
Below is a narration by the Kazakhstan investors on how they were conned by people claiming to be close relatives of Museveni as contained in a statement attributed to two gold investors from Kazakhstan: Baishev Rinad and Jambulov Olzhas:
“We, citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Baishev Rinad and Jambulov Olzhas, want to report the fact of fraud against us in the Republic of Uganda and ask for your help.
We arrived in Uganda on March 20, 2023 as investors for the further sale of gold in the UAE at the invitation of a Ugandan citizen named Eric, who introduced himself as a relative of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Eric reported that he has connections with a company licensed to export gold.
Upon arrival in Kampala, Eric met us and introduced us to Joseph Akandwanaho and Joram Kamukama, who introduced themselves as Gold Dealers and owners of a large gold exporting company called Sero Minerals LTD, office located at Plot 9 Golf Course Rd, Kampala, Uganda. They presented us with all the licenses and documents for the right to export and have gold.
To complete the transaction legally, we hired a local lawyer in Kampala named Raymond Ntende (his last name was Frederick in the documents). We paid him $14,000 for checking all documents and providing full support for the transaction.
The lawyer confirmed to us that the company is licensed and operating. As it turned out later, our lawyer entered into a conspiracy with gold sellers in order to deceive us.
We agreed with the sellers to export 25 kg of gold to a refinery located in the UAE, to which the sellers – Joseph and Joram informed us that we must pay an amount of $ 113,125 (One hundred thirteen thousand one hundred twenty-five US dollars) supposedly to pay tax and taxes for exporting gold in such a volume.
We transferred this amount, in return we took from them a deposit in the form of 3 kg of gold and a check for accepting the money. The “gold” was in bullion, which we checked at the drag checking point. metals in Kampala under the name “Eurogold”.
Three days after payment, the sellers informed us that the tax had increased and we owed another $40,000 (forty thousand US dollars), we transferred this amount to them by signing an additional amount. An agreement to a contract drawn up by a lawyer.
After receiving the second tranche, the seller refused to send the goods under various excuses, and after we demanded to return the money, the Seller began to threaten us with violence and stated that he belonged to a local gangster group and if we went to the police, they would kill us. Fearing for our lives, the next day we bought plane tickets and flew back to Kazakhstan.
The deposit that the Seller provided us ended up being fake, we had it checked with two other gold testing companies and it turned out to be a zinc copper alloy. As we believe, during or after checking the gold, Eurogold employees also, by prior conspiracy, replaced it with counterfeit bars.
The lawyer who was supposed to protect our interests also summed up that we had become victims of scammers and advised that it was better for us to leave the country as soon as possible, since there was now a threat to our lives, and that he could not help in any way, since the deposit turned out to be fake and is of no value.
We hope for justice and ask for help from the Ugandan government as a guarantor of order. We want our funds back and hope that the scammers will be punished.
We are ready to provide all receipts and documents regarding this fact. We would also like to note that these scammers are spoiling the name of the President of Uganda by posing as his relative, thereby undermining the authority of the President, as well as the government and the country of Uganda as a whole.
It should be remembered that US previously slapped sanctions against Museveni’s ‘Gold Dealer’ Friend, Several Companies for Stealing, Buying Gold from DR Congo Rebels, as reported Here.
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