Missing Gold Draws Uganda Refinery Boss Into $3.5 Million Fraud Probe

Sudanese investors travelled to Uganda to buy gold, but a consignment reportedly vanished after part of it had been tested and placed in custody before export. Their alleged loss of about $3.5 million, or 13 billion Ugandan shillings, is now at the centre of an investigation involving refinery owners, a security executive and several other suspects, according to Trumpet News.

Euro Gold Refinery proprietor Benard Feni, also known as Mungu Feni, and his alleged accomplices have been transferred to the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence headquarters in Mbuya for further questioning, the outlet reported. Feni was arrested earlier this month during a joint security operation. Investigators are examining his alleged role in the transaction and whether his company or other gold businesses helped facilitate it.

He is reportedly being held alongside Mohammed Ali, the former managing director of Duck Hunters Security Services Limited, and Trevor Besigye, the owner of Spanex Company. Trumpet News reported that Besigye had confessed during questioning to involvement in the alleged fraud. That account remains a reported development in the investigation, rather than a court finding establishing responsibility for the missing gold.

A transaction becomes a wider investigation

According to the report, investigators allege that the investors were introduced to several gold dealers before entering transactions involving substantial quantities of gold. Some of the metal was reportedly tested and the consignment was then held pending export. The central question is what happened between that stage and its disappearance, and who controlled the gold and the money along the way.

Ali became a key suspect because investigators allege that he assumed responsibility for the gold’s security and transport before it went missing. His legal troubles also extended to documents used to obtain bail. The State House Anti-Corruption Unit and the Criminal Investigations Directorate accused him of using forged medical and marriage documents. He was subsequently rearrested, charged with forgery and presenting false documents, and remanded to Luzira Prison.

Trumpet News reported that Ali was arrested again by security agencies after a court released him on bail last Friday, and was taken to military intelligence headquarters. The detention of Feni and Besigye alongside him has broadened the reported inquiry beyond Ali’s handling of the consignment to possible links between multiple businesses and individuals.

Following the dealers and the money

Security agencies are seeking other individuals identified in the report as Agaba, John Paul, Ali Kasumba and Paul Mohindo. They are also pursuing the owners of Midasgko Minerals Traders Limited, described as a gold refinery allegedly connected to the transactions, and the proprietors of Azura Gold Refinery over their alleged links to the dealings.

Investigators are examining where the investors’ payments went and whether any property or other assets were bought with proceeds of the alleged fraud. Trumpet News said President Museveni authorised the probe and gave Inspector General of Police Abbas Byakagaba two months to tackle the alleged network. The next developments to watch are whether investigators locate the people being sought and establish a traceable path for both the missing gold and the investors’ money.