Police close illegal micro finance; over sh20m in savings lost

Sep 01, 2014

Police in Njeru Town Council has closed an illegal micro finance bank over defrauding unsuspecting members of the public over sh20m

By Donald Kiirya

BUIKWE - Police in Njeru Town Council has closed an illegal micro finance bank over defrauding unsuspecting members of the public of over sh20m.

Led by the Njeru division Police Commander Chris Katumba who was accompanied by the Njeru Police boss Julius Tugume, Police stormed Vision Finance Fund, a micro finance bank along Kayunga road in Njeru town council in Buikwe district on Friday and closed it.

Katumba said they received several complaints from the public demanding the authenticity of the microfinance in which they have been saving their money.   

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Furniture that was confiscated from Vision Finance Fund offices on Friday.

He said they made investigations and found out that the microfinance was operating illegally without a security guard at the gate and had no genuine bank account where people deposited their money.

“In our investigations, we found out that money that was being saved by members was being deposited on a mobile money account number 0786966505 owned by Brian Mwebaze who is also the proprietor of the illegal microfinance,” Katumba said.

He said Mwebaze has been operating the microfinance and using it to extort money from members of the public, especially boda boda operators and petty traders.

Katumba added that Mwebaze had employed five people at the bank who included a manager, marketer, loans officer and cashier who have been registering new entrants and promising people loans.

He said no arrests had been made yet adding that Police was looking for Mwebaze who is at large.

He urged boda boda operatives to form groups and always bank their money in genuine financial institutions in order to avoid being coned of their money.

Maureen, the Manager who also declined to reveal her second name said they had been collecting daily contributions from members of the public with the promise that whatever amount their clients were able to contribute within a month would be doubled for them as loan without interest.

She also confirmed that they had been sending people’s savings onto Mwebaze’s mobile money account since the financial institution did not have a bank account in any commercial bank adding that 94 people had registered with them.

She said the bank had been in existence for 27 days since it was opened of August 1, 2014.

However Police recovered property that was found inside the premises housing the bank which included furniture and other office materials which were loaded onto a lorry and taken to Njeru Police Division headquarters.
 

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