Prominent City Lawyer Balondemu Remanded To Luzira Prison Over Fraud
Lawyer David Balondemu
City lawyer David Balondemu has been remanded to Luzira government prison after being arraigned before City Hall court in Kampala and charged with defrauding a Korean national in a fake gold deal.
Balondemu, who is also the chairperson of the Kampala District Land Board was arraigned on an amended charge sheet together with three others who had already been remanded to prison were charged with obtaining money by false pretense contrary to section 305 of the Penal Code Act.
According to prosecution, the group together with others still at large between the months of March and November 2021 at the offices of M/s Balondemu & Co Advocates along Parliamentary Avenue in the Kampala City received $600,000( approximately shs2.2billion) by falsely pretending that they were selling 53kilograms of gold to Hyun Uk Kim whereas it was not true.
Balondemu together with three others are also accused of conspiring to commit a felony contrary to section 390 of the Penal Code Act when they obtained $600,000 from the Korean national by false pretense.
Balondemu is said to have used his legal expertise to create an elaborate scheme which convinced the Korean national to release the money.
When presented before City Hall grade one magistrate, Edgar Karakire, Balondemu denied the charges.
The state prosecutor, Mercy Yamangusho, however told court that investigations into the case are still ongoing.
The lawyer asked court to release him on bail after citing his bad health but the magistrate insisted that the bail would be determined on November, 6, 2023.
The lawyer was arrested by the State House Anti Corruption Unit following a complaint by the Korean national to the president that he had lost huge sums of money to crooks in Kampala and is being charged alongside fellow lawyer, Geofrey Eric Mkwe, Jeff James Mugisha and Godfrey Maviri.
The State House Anti Corruption Unit (SH-ACU) in one year, 2022, managed to recover Ugx35.484bn from corruption masters of this country, the annual report revealed.
The Unit also managed to arrest and arraign in court over 448 suspects. Among these, courts convicted 70 culprits including government accounting Officers, Executive Officers, managing directors, Secretaries of Commission, CAOs, and Town Clerks.
SH-ACU was established under Article 99(4) of the constitution of Uganda, which gives the President executive powers to either directly or indirectly perform his duties or through officers subordinate to him.
Launched on 10th December 2018, SH-ACU coordinates with all constitutionally mandated agencies to ensure a corruption-free country.
The Unit also acts as a link between H.E. the President, citizens, and Anti- Corruption agencies in relation to Anti-Corruption issues.
