MTN employees charged over sim card swapping

PIC: Nasser Kigenyi and Henry Magembe appearing in court on Monday. (Credit: AFP)

COURT | CRIME

Two employees of MTN telecom Company have been charged with nine counts relating to sim-card swapping.

On Monday, Nasser Kigenyi, 29, a service centre advisor with MTN Mubende branch and Henry Magembe, 37, a salesman, appeared before the Grade One Magistrate Samuel Kagoda.

The two suspects denied the charges and were remanded until March 15 after state attorney Nelly Asiku told court that inquiries are ongoing.

They are facing charges of abetting electronic fraud and unauthorised obstruction of sim cards contrary to section 20, 21,19 and 16 of the computer misuse Act.

The suspects also face an alternative charge of conspiracy to defraud state minister for lands Persis Namuganza, state minister for agriculture Christopher Kibanzanga, Western Youth MP Mpaka Mwine and businesswoman Mercy Kyakunda.

Prosecution alleges that the duo and others still at large, in February, unlawfully swapped sim card numbers 0776679365, 0782670551, 0772970393 and 0783799892 belonging to Kyakunda, Namuganza, Kibanzanga and Mwine respectively.

They swapped the sim cards without authorisation of their owners, thereby allowing fraudsters who got possession of the said cellphone numbers to fraudulently solicit money from the public with an intention of securing unfair gains.

The two are also accused of blocking the duly registered owners of the said sim cards from using them while being used in fraudulent purposes.

AFP