SK Mbuga's wife further remanded

Angella Vivienne Chebet, the wife to socialite Sulaiman Kabangala aka SK Mbuga, accused of defrauding a Swedish national of sh23b in a gold deal, has further been remanded to Luzira Prison.

Chief Magistrate Pamela Lamunu Ocaya on Wednesday remanded Chebet after senior state prosecutor David Bisamunyu informed the court that investigations into the matter are still ongoing.

"The matter is coming up for mention but I pray for another date since inquiries are still ongoing," Bisamunyu requested.

This prompted the magistrate to adjourn the case to April 10, 2019.

Chebet, 33, a resident of Buziga, Upper Kkonge in Makindye division, Kampala, was last week denied bail by Justice Margaret Tibulya on grounds that she is a flight risk.

The judge stated that Chebet abandoned her Swedish passport in Sweden, where she was granted bail on similar charges and escaped to Uganda despite the fact that her Ugandan passport has no evidence of movement.

Dismissing her bail application, Tibulya ruled that the five sureties the accused presented to the court were not substantial although she has a fixed place of abode.

The judge said none of the sureties the accused presented to the court is capable of paying the bail money in case the accused absconds from the court.

Chebet is wanted in Sweden, accused of defrauding her Swedish boyfriend Sten Heinsoo of 53m Krona (about sh23b).

Mbuga, who was originally detained at Al Awiir Central Prison in Dubai, UAE, for over a year on the same charges, was this year extradited to Denmark, where he is reportedly supposed to face fresh charges of defrauding a Danish national of $2.6m (about sh9.6b) in a botched gold deal.

The case

The prosecution alleges that Chebet on April 7, 2015, in Kampala, with intent to defraud, obtained sh152.8m from Sten Heinsoo by falsely pretending to facilitate a gold deal or transaction whereas not.

The prosecution further alleges that Chebet on April 13, 2015, obtained sh167.6m from Heinsoo pretending to facilitate another gold deal, and that on May 28, Chebet allegedly obtained sh107.6m.

Concerning charges of money laundering, it is alleged that Chebet on April 7, 2015, intentionally acquired sh152.8m on her Barclays Bank account from Heinsoo knowing at the time of receipt that the funds were proceeds of crime.

Prosecution states that on April 13, 2015, Chebet acquired sh167.5m on her account from Heinsoo and on May 25 another $107.6m.