Suspected conman, Kasule denied bail the third time

Aug 02, 2018

The judge disallowed the application and directed that the ongoing trial proceeds normally in the court below.

PIC: Kasule had for the second time applied for bail at Buganda Road, but was denied by the  then chief magistrate

 

FRAUD

High court has refused to grant bail to former Kampala City Lord Mayoral aspirant, Muhammad Kasule, who is accused of conning an American of sh580m in a botched gold deal.


Yesterday, the High court Judge, Yasin Nyanzi, said he could not grant Kasule bail, stating that he was convinced with the state prosecutor's submission that the trial is at advanced stages, and hence cannot interfere with it.

"I know financially and logistically it is not possible to operate like that, but it cannot be me as a judge of the high court to frustrate the progress of proceedings in the magistrate's court," he stated.

The judge disallowed the application and directed that the ongoing trial proceeds normally in the court below.

Kasule had for the second time applied for bail at Buganda Road, but was denied by the  then chief magistrate; James Ereemye Mawanda, on grounds that he had refused to surrender his passport to Police.

This prompted his lawyer Hassan Kamba to apply for bail at the High Court.

Kasule, also a businessman, is battling three counts of obtaining money by false pretense, contrary to Section 305 of the Penal Code Act. The offence attracts a maximum penalty of five years on conviction.

Prosecution led by Senior State Attorney Jonathan Muwaganya alleges that Kasule defrauded an American citizen, Richard Richards of $160,000 about (sh580m) in a bogus gold deal.

Prosecution alleges that in the first count, on June 26, 2017 in Kampala, Kasule obtained $48, 000 (about sh172m), which was transferred to his bank account, 2202771867 at KCB main branch in Kampala from the bank account, 012314610505201 of Senior Presidential Advisor on diaspora matters, Florence Kiremerwa, while falsely pretending that he was selling 2kg of Gold to her, whereas not.

Prosecution states that on August, 31, 2017, Kasule also obtained $79,990 (about Sh287.9m) from Richards 2502, which was transferred to his KCB bank account  through inward SWIFT Pa-AT-DPC from Richards 2502 EUTA in USA while falsely pretending that he was selling him 25kgs of Gold to him, whereas not.

The third count states that on September 13, 2017 in Kampala, Kasule obtained $29727 (about Sh107m) from Richards, which was transferred to his KCB bank account while falsely pretending that it was an additional payment for the 25kgs of Gold he sold to him whereas not.


Background

The hunt for Kasule started after Kiremerwa opened a fraud case against Kasule at Central Police Station (CPS).

 According to Kiremerwa, in June 2017 she introduced Richards to Kasule who she had met at a funeral of one Moses Muwonge, a Ugandan who passed on in New York; US. Kasule had convinced her that he had been an associate in gold venture deals with the late Muwonge.

Kiremerwa met Richards at the Congolese embassy in the US during one of her trips to the US. It is alleged that Richards had gone to the Congolese Embassy in the US to secure a visa to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to prospect gold, prompting her to introduce Kasule to him.

But not long after Richards ran to her crying that he had been conned after depositing cash to Kasule's Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) account. 

 

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