Father, son accused of sh1.2b fraud to know fate today

KAMPALA - The verdict of a case where a father, his son and a guesthouse manager are accused of allegedly defrauding a city businessman of shillings 1.2 billion, is set for today, March 17, 2025.

Nakasero-based Anti-Corruption Court head Justice Lawrence Gidudu is expected to deliver the judgement.

Abdul Lubowa, Ronald Kavuma and Jonathan Tindyebwa, only identified as guesthouse manager, are facing different charges.

According to court records, the accused allegedly obtained money by false pretence from Dauda Katende Ssuna, claiming it was needed to unfreeze shillings 18 billion held in Lubowa’s account at dfcu Bank. The charges also include conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.

The judgement was initially scheduled for March 7, 2025. However, on March 5, Justice Gidudu said he would be away from the station attending to other official duties.

While delivering his opinion on January 27, 2025, court assessor Robert Sseguya Lubega urged Gidudu to convict the three accused.

Lubega stated that after analysing the evidence on record, he found that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt. He said that the three accused committed the offences of obtaining money by pretenses and should be convicted as charged.

Court assessors are non-lawyers who sit alongside a judge to provide their opinions based on their understanding of the case. While their input is considered, the judge may choose to agree or disagree with their opinions.

Prosecution’s case

The prosecution led by Chief State Attorney Nelly Asiku from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) alleges that Lubowa and others fraudulently obtained shillings 1.2 billion, claiming he would use the money to unfreeze funds in his dfcu Bank account and repay it after unfreezing the account.

Lubowa claimed that he had been compensated by (UNRA, now defunct) for land affected by a road project and intended to use part of the money got from Ssuna to bribe top officials in government to help unfreeze the account.

Regarding the charge of obtaining money by false pretence, it is alleged that between April and July 2018 in Kampala, Tindyebwa, Lubowa, Kato, and others still at large obtained shillings 1.2 billion from Ssuna with the intent to defraud.

The prosecution said between the same period in Kampala, Tindyebwa, Lubowa and Kavuma allegedly conspired to steal.

According to the charges of money laundering, it is alleged that Lubowa and Tindyebwa acquired sh1.2 billion and used it to purchase proprieties, yet they knew it was the proceeds of a crime.

Lubowa allegedly used part of the money to construct a house for Aisha Najjemba in Kiwawu Namungo, Mityana district, and bought vehicles—a Toyota Hiace and a Toyota Raum.

Kato allegedly administered shillings 173 million in his name at Diamond Trust Bank's Ndeeba branch and used shillings 90 million to purchase land in Mutundwe, in Kampala.

Furthermore, Kato purportedly acquired a Toyota Alphad using part of the shillings 1.2 billion allegedly obtained from Ssuna. They denied the charges.