Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court in Kampala has remanded Andrew Asiimwe Mark to Luzira Prison until July 25.
Asiimwe is accused of impersonating businessman Balam Barugahara and other people in the security circles.
He was allegedly conning unsuspecting supporters of the MK Movement under a Facebook account in the names of Balam Barugahara.
He would solicit funds from members of the public willing to support a non-existent program dubbed the ‘MK Girl Child project’.
Baruhagara is the national vice chairperson in charge of Western Uganda for the MK Movement, an “organization” under Lt General Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
It is said that he defrauded a one John Twinomugisha, an MK Movement supporter who lives in Sweden, of an unspecified amount of money.
The suspect would also refer unsuspecting victims to Major Asiimwe on telephone number 0704653456 for help. He would later ask them to deposit different sums of money.
Others who fell victim of his unscrupulous actions include; Rich Atwooki, Ekyatuhaire Rebecca, John Francis Twinomugisha, Ayebare John Ndema, among others.
The suspect was charged before Buganda Road Grade One magistrate, Sanula Namboozo, with two charges of impersonation contrary to section 381 of the Penal Code Act and electronic fraud contrary to section 19, 21 and 22 of the Computer Misuse Act 2011.
During trial, Asiimwe first denied the charges but later asked for forgiveness.
“It is true I used Balaam’s name to get money and I have been defrauding people. I have a family who don’t have anything to eat. I have looked for jobs but in vain. I am asking that at least someone gets me a job. I am asking for forgiveness because I will never do it again,” Asiimwe said.
In June last year, the same man was arrested for defrauding people in the names of the coordinator Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), General Salim Saleh.
He would later confess to have been motivated into the crime in December 2020 when he allegedly fell victim and was defrauded of Shs200,000 by someone.
Speaking to the press, Barugahara said he was happy that the man was apprehended.
“The imposter, using a fake Facebook account in my name, has been defrauding members of the public in fake job opportunities in Canada and Germany charging them what he calls registration fees, interpol charges and visa fees, according to chats retrieved by police. He has also been asking for money in my name with a promise to connect the unsuspecting members of the public to senior people in the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF), Special Forces Command (SFC) and Government for recruitment and placement in better positions, but I am happy he was apprehended and admitted to his crimes. I am ready to forgive him.”
