Crown Converters ex-employees' appeal dismissed

May 16, 2017

The accused had applied to court to compel prosecution to produce more evidence before they start their defence

Court has dismissed an application filed by former employees of Crown Converters Limited accused of embezzling sh1.6b.

Justice Margaret Tibulya of the Anti-Corruption Court yesterday dismissed an application filed by Patel Aniket, Taylor Alplesh, Patel Laxmikant and Dave Shailesh and ordered them to start their defence on June 12.

The accused had applied to court to compel prosecution to produce more evidence before they start their defence.

The order came after court ruled earlier that all the accused have a case to answer and should defend themselves against the accusation.

Crown Converters is one of the leading suppliers of stationery across the country.

While delivering her ruling, Justice Tibulya said the application was brought in bad faith. She said the issue of disclosure of evidence was dealt with at the start of the trial.

Prosecution said the accused supplied goods from Crown Converters to different customers across the country and allegedly deposited the money on their accounts.

Prosecution led by senior state attorneys Barbara Kawuma and Tom Walugembe said Aniket, Laximiknat, Aplesh and Shailesh allegedly conspired between June 2005 and December 2009 at Crown Converters offices in Kampala to steal from the company.

They are charged with embezzlement, forgery, and uttering false document. They denied the charges.

Prosecution said the fraud was unearthed by one of the managers, Gopal Patel, that money meant for Crown Converters Ltd was illegally transferred from Bank of Baroda in Kampala to private accounts of the accused.

It is further alleged that Police inquiries revealed that a number of resolutions binding the company had been changed without the knowledge of other directors.

Prosecution said a separate Police investigation also established that the accused allegedly stole sh1,676,445,058.

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