MUKONO, UGANDA: Five suspects have been arrested and detained on allegations of obtaining money by false pretence through fraudulent sale of land in Mukono district. The suspects include Kintuze Ronald, Yiiga Vicent, Waswa Brian, Mugalya Moses, and Kasozi Peter.
According to Kampala Metropolitan Police Deputy Spokesperson, ASP Luke Owoyesigyire, the five suspects were arrested after a complainant identified as Mbabazi Asilat complained about a group of thugs who had lured her into a transaction on a piece of land located in Nakasajja Dundu in Mukono pretending to be the original owners.
Mbabazi (the victim) narrated to police that the thugs took money amounting to Ugx55 million from her in a land sale transaction conducted on April 14, 2022.
Explaining how the thugs lure unsuspecting victims into these dubious land transactions, Owoyesigyire explained that the thugs use the trickery of identifying land that has been put up for sale and then forge documents to pose as the real owners making the potential buyers believe they are transacting a genuine deal.
“Our detectives have established that the group of criminals always identify the land that has been put on market in a particular area especially in Mukono, they then forge the national ID, land title and Sim card of the real owner of the land,” Owoyesgyire said.
He added that in this particular case, the thugs forged documents belonging to Dr. Ahmed Ziwa a Professor at Makerere University who is the real owner of the land in question.
“We have also established that the prices of the pieces of land being sold to victims by these thugs are always at a lower price compared to what the real owner is selling, making the deal good for the unsuspecting buyers,” he added.
“We are also looking into how they forged these documents and who aided them in the forgery. We call upon those who could have fallen victim of the said men to come to KMP headquarters.”
Owoyesigyire further appealed to the public especially those interested in purchasing land to always do due diligence while purchasing the land and also to be on the lookout for prices other people would sell land in the same area.
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