Court orders bank to pay ex-guard sh108m over diverted compensation
The judge awarded Mazuno sh108m, being the amount lost, sh20m in general damages, costs of the suit and interest at 8% from the date of judgment until payment in full.
Court orders bank to pay ex-guard sh108m over diverted compensation
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The High Court in Mbale has ordered United Bank for Africa (UBA) to pay former private security guard Wilson Michael Mazuno sh108m after an impostor diverted his compensation money through an account opened in his name.
In a judgment dated September 7, 2026, Justice Lubega Farouq held that the bank was negligent in opening the account, which facilitated the financial loss suffered by Mazuno.
The judge awarded Mazuno sh108m, being the amount lost, sh20m in general damages, costs of the suit and interest at 8% from the date of judgment until payment in full.
Although Mazuno was not a direct customer of UBA, the judge said he was entitled to sue the bank under the neighbour principle, which imposes a duty of care on persons who could be affected by another party’s conduct.
“I find that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care based on the neighbour principle,” Justice Lubega said.
The court faulted the bank for failing to verify the physical address of the person seeking to open the account and to confirm the photograph on the National Identity Card with the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA).
The judge held that the failures amounted to a breach of the duty of care owed to persons who were foreseeable victims of harm arising from such negligence.
Red flags ignored
The judge further held that UBA failed to exercise the requisite care and good faith when opening the account and allowing the substantial funds deposited into it to be withdrawn shortly afterwards.
According to the judge, this should have prompted the bank to carry out heightened scrutiny and intervene to prevent the fraud.
“I find that the bank cannot escape liability for the financial loss thereby occasioned to the plaintiff,” he said.
Justice Lubega also said evidence before court showed that the bank acted dishonestly in the process of opening the account, thereby facilitating the impostor’s access to the funds.
How the money was lost
Court documents show that Mazuno was recruited as an armed security guard by Trip Canopy Global Operations Inc, an American private security company operating in Afghanistan, on January 8, 2019.
In 2020, while on duty, Mazuno fell from a guard tower and sustained multiple injuries, including spinal damage, hearing impairment and psychological trauma. His injuries left him unable to continue working normally.
Through his lawyers, Barnett Lerner, Kansen Frankel and Castro, Mazuno lodged a compensation claim against his employer before the United States Department of Labour’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs.
Mazuno later became concerned after he failed to receive updates from his lawyers and wrote to them seeking information about his claim.
His lawyers subsequently informed him that the claim had been settled and that an award of $30,000 (sh115m), had been approved and remitted to his UBA bank account.
He then followed up on the payment and discovered that an account had allegedly been opened in his name on April 22, 2023, using his National Identification Number but bearing the photograph of another person.
According to the court documents, Mazuno later discovered that on August 10, 2023, the sh108m meant for his compensation had been diverted into the account. The money was subsequently withdrawn in two instalments on August 10 and 11, 2023.