Five people, including four employees of Equity Bank Uganda, have been charged before the Anti-Corruption Court and remanded to Luzira prison on charges of conspiring to defraud their employer of UGX 62 billion through disbursement of unsecured loans to unqualified clients.
The five suspects on Wednesday appeared before the Anti-Corruption Magistrate’s Court on charges of obtaining credit by false pretense, money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud.
They are; Mr Julius Musiime, the head of Agency Banking at Equity Bank; Ms Erina Nabisubi, a relationship manager for telecom, Mr Fred Semwogerere (banker), Mr Tumuhimbise Crescent Tibarwesereka (relationship officer) and Wycliff Asiimwe, a distribution and marketing consultant with an unnamed microfinance.
But Grade One Magistrate Abert Asiimwe said the suspects were not allowed to plead to the charges.
“You are advised not to plead to these charges as you will have a chance to plead to them in the High Court which has the jurisdiction to hear the case of money laundering,” he said.
The suspects are expected to appear again in court on April 12.
According to the charge sheet, in the year 2021 and 2024 at different places in Kampala and Wakiso districts, Mr Musiime, Nabisubi, Ssemwogerere, Tumuhimbise and Asiimwe conspired together to defraud Equity Bank of Shs62 billion by fraudulently causing the disbursement of unsecured loans to unqualified people.
The court also directed the prosecution led by Mr Raymond Mugisa to speed up the investigations into the matter to commit the suspects for trial.
“I put you (state) on notice that with charges of nature, we encourage that by the time you bring people to court, inquiries are almost complete. So speed up the investigations to enable the case to move to another step,” Magistrate Asiimwe said.
According to him, the magistrates’ court has only three months within which to mention the case as per the new High Court rule