The Uganda Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) has confirmed that the body is investigating the unscrupulous wealth accumulation of Justine Bagyenda, the former executive director Bank of Uganda in charge of supervision.
According to Sydney Asubo, the executive director of UFIA, they received information from an unnamed whistleblower who claimed that Bagyenda had “assets and finances” that do not correspond to “her earnings.”
“The information we have, we shall share it with other law enforcement agencies. We are still compiling information about the financial dealings of Bagyenda. We shall then have to verify it,” Asubo said.
He added that if after verification there is evidence of any fraud, then further steps will be taken.
Asubo however cautioned that the verification process could take a long time.
Bagyenda came under intense scrutiny after a concerned citizen implored the IGG in August 2017 to probe into how she amassed multiple assets in Kampala.
Through his lawyer, Dickwitington Kimeze claimed that he had information about properties belonging to Bagyenda, which she could not have declared as stipulated under the Leadership Code Act.
The said Act demands that a person shall within three months after becoming a leader and thereafter every two years, during December submit to the IGG a written declaration of the leader’s income, assets and liabilities.
Kimeze’s petition showed that Bagyenda owns various prime properties, including condominium plans at Makerere Hill Road, Sunderland Avenue in Bugolobi and plots of land at Kimera Close and Balikudembe Road.
When question by the IGG recently, Justine Bagyenda, according to reports, was not able to avail substantial information detailing how she accrued all that wealth.
Muyangonja revealed that investigations were still ongoing.
The Financial Intelligence Authority was established under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2013 in order to combat money laundering activities.
Its four core duties are: to impose certain duties on institutions and other persons, businesses and professions who might be used for money laundering purposes; to make orders in relation to proceeds of crime and properties of offenders;to provide for international cooperation in investigations, prosecution and other legal processes of prohibiting and preventing money laundering and to designate money laundering as an extraditable offence; and to provide for other related matters.
