By Spy Uganda
Kampala: State House Anti Corruption Unit together with Criminal Investigations Directorate have re-arraigned David Balondemu,the Kampala District Land Board Chairperson and Ibona Joseph before Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court on charges of Obtaining Money by False Pretense and Conspiracy to Commit a Felony.
The accused and others still at large while operating under a law firm M/S Bloom Advocates obtained over UGX 2.2B from an American company KG Unlimited LLC, by falsely pretending that they were going to award it a contract of supplying agricultural drone sprayers and fertilizers from Ministry of Agriculture which was not true.
City lawyer Balondemu was re-arrested on Saturday last week by the State House Anti Corruption Unit after he and his accomplices purported that Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) was conducting the procurement on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture and all the money was paid through an account of M/s Bloom Advocates.
It is alleged that Balondemu is the proprietor of the law firm through proxies and after appearing before court, the suspects have been remanded until 22/11/2023.
The development comes a few weeks after Balondemu was arrested by State House Anti Corruption Unit over a bogus deal in which Korean investors were defrauded over shs2.2 billion.
It is alleged that at his offices of M/s Balondemu & Co Advocates along Parliamentary , Balondemu received $600,000( approximately shs2.2billion) by falsely pretending that they were selling 53kilograms of gold to Hyun Uk Kim whereas it was not true.
He is accused of using his legal expertise to create an elaborate scheme which convinced the Korean national to release the money.
The lawyer was recently arraigned in court and released on bail before he was re-arrested last week.
The Workaholic State House Anti Corruption Unit
The State House Anti Corruption Unit (SH-ACU) in one year, 2022, managed to recover Ugx35.484bn from corruption masters of this country, the annual report revealed.
The Unit also managed to arrest and arraign in court over 448 suspects. Among these, courts convicted 70 culprits including government accounting Officers, Executive Officers, managing directors, Secretaries of Commission, CAOs, and Town Clerks.
SH-ACU was established under Article 99(4) of the constitution of Uganda, which gives the President executive powers to either directly or indirectly perform his duties or through officers subordinate to him.
Launched on 10th December 2018, SH-ACU coordinates with all constitutionally mandated agencies to ensure a corruption-free country.
The Unit also acts as a link between H.E. the President, citizens, and Anti- Corruption agencies in relation to Anti-Corruption issues.
