Dubai businessman’s $4 million gold complaint leads to 16 arrests in Uganda

A Dubai businessman who reported losing $4 million in a fake gold deal was being targeted for another payment of the same size, according to Uganda Police Force. His complaint led joint security teams to set a trap and arrest 16 suspects, including four police officers who investigators say had left their assigned duties to guard suspects at an illegal gold refinery.

The case began with a complaint lodged in July 2025. The businessman alleged that Asiimwe Moses and accomplices, operating under the company name Real Sunnex Ltd, had obtained $4 million from him through a fraudulent gold transaction. Police identified Asiimwe as the prime suspect. The account centres on the businessman’s dealings with that group and its alleged use of a gold transaction to obtain his money.

Further contact with the complainant gave investigators another opening. Police said they established that the suspects expected an additional $4 million from the same businessman under similar false pretences. That expected payment became the basis for the security operation. The police account describes the second sum as money the suspects were anticipating, not as another payment they had already received.

A trap and an alleged refinery operation

Acting on that information, joint security teams arrested the 16 suspects and recovered material police linked to the alleged scheme. The items included suspected fake gold, documents police described as incriminating, and eight motor vehicles believed to have helped the operation. Police did not present the recovered gold as genuine: its suspected falseness is central to the complaint and the investigation into how the transaction was arranged.

Investigators also alleged that four serving police officers had withdrawn from their assigned posts without permission and taken up guard duties for the suspects. Police said the officers had deployed themselves to an illegal gold refinery where the fraudulent transactions were being facilitated. That finding placed the conduct of members of the force alongside the alleged fraud itself, prompting an internal disciplinary process as well as preparations for criminal proceedings.

Uganda Police Force described the officers’ unauthorised guard duties as a serious violation of police discipline and professional standards.

Disciplinary convictions, criminal proceedings to follow

According to the police statement, the four officers appeared before the Police Disciplinary Court on 29 August 2026 and were tried, convicted and sentenced. The supplied account does not specify their penalties. Those internal convictions are separate from the criminal proceedings police said they were preparing against all 16 suspects, including the four officers and the other 12 people arrested in the operation.

Police urged people trading in gold and other precious minerals to check that dealers and refineries are legitimate before committing to transactions. For this case, the next steps are the planned criminal proceedings, efforts to recover the businessman’s money and the continuing investigation into the wider alleged network, including any other accomplices.