Court dismisses appeal by ex- Crown Converters employees

The Anti- Corruption Court has dismissed an application filed by three former employers of the Crown Converters Ltd who are accused of embezzling sh1.6b from the company.

Justice Margaret Tibulya dismissed an application filed by Patel Aniket, Alpesh Tylor and Dave Shaileh to have the proceeding against them halted.

They had applied to the court to have the ongoing trial against them referred to the Constitutional Court. Crown Converters  Ltd has been dealing in stationery.

They contend that the conduct of the Director of Public Prosecutions(DPP) of denying them documents in their possession showing accountability of funds they are alleged to have embezzled is inconsistent with the constitution.

The accused argued that the act and conduct of the presiding judge of openly exhibiting partiality and bias against them in the course of their trial are in contravention with Article 20(2), 28(1), 44 (c), 45 and 126(2) (e) of the Constitution. They also sought an order that the trial is conducted by another judge.

However, the prosecution led by senior state attorney Barbara Kawuma said the prosecution had given all documents they relied on during the hearing to the accused.

Kawuma said there is an existing mechanism to ensure that their rights are preserved even after conviction, adding that they may appeal against conviction.

Court rejects application 

 While delivering her ruling on Friday, Justice Tibulya said the accused were merely using delaying tactics. She said it was a veiled attempt to have the proceedings halted.

The judge said the fact that the decision not to avail them with documents was not in favour of the accused cannot by any standard be taken as evidence of bias on her part.

"There rulings were based on a section of the laws that I cited, and the decision not to require the DPP to furnish the documents in issue was also based on the law relating to the disclosure of evidence," Justice Tibulya said.

She further stated that the accused did not convince her to warrant her refer the case to the Constitution Court for interpretation.

"For this reason, I find that no prima facie case has been made out to warrant a stay of the criminal proceedings before me, on the pretext that the issues raised by the applicants are up for Constitutional interpretation. 

"On the whole, I find no merit in the application for an order of stay of proceedings. It is dismissed with an order that the hearing proceeds without any further delays," Tibulya said.

Charges against the accused

Prosecution led by senior state attorney Kawuma and said Aniket, Aplesh and Shailesh allegedly conspired between June 2005 and December 2009 at Crown Converters offices in Kampala to steal from the company.

They are charged with embezzlement, forgery, and uttering a false document. The accused denied the charges.

The prosecution said the fraud was unearthed by one of the managers, Gopal Patel, that money meant for Crown Converters Ltd was illegally transferred from Bank of Baroda in Kampala to private accounts of the accused.


It is further alleged that Police inquiries revealed that a number of resolutions binding the company had been changed without the knowledge of other directors.

The prosecution said a separate Police investigation also established that the accused allegedly stole sh1,676,445,058.