Along the way, a cluster of Ugandans started insinuating that we had issues with Equity Bank, most probably some individuals in-there. But we have a `PHD` in how some Ugandans can mysteriously take issues. To this end, even Equity Bank management dragged us before UCC over some stories `against` them. We submitted ours to the same.

Today, Ugandans woke to more ugly news about this same Bank. It is wrapped in a dossier written and submitted via social media, by a respectable veteran sports journalist, Aldrine Nsubuga who, was approached by a victimized Equity Bank customer, Rose Ahebwa. Below, is slightly edited version of Nsubuga Snr`s post. Read on.

The Dossier

Rose Ahebwa walks in my office with red eyes and a ghastly look. In tow is her brother, a one Emma. Their world has sunk under their feet. They are here only because they have nowhere else to go. They have reached the end of the line.

One and a half months ago, they were celebrating as a family but now, the family is about to be split over UGX47M that Equity Bank stole on 18^th December, 2022. When Rose received a customer service call a few days after opening an account with Equity Bank, where she deposited the money in 2^nd week of December, she innocently answered all their questions.

All seemed okay.  A few days later, she was looking into an empty account. She had gone to make a withdraw. The entire UGX47M had gone!  “Sorry mum, you only have 27,000/= on your account” a teller told her. In an instant, her world turned to rubble. This wasn’t her money. It was family money.

The bigger shock however was how the bank, from teller to manager, to a top boss – all avoided to answer her question of; “where did my money go?” She reported the case to police on 19/12/22 [vide Case Ref: SD 44/19/12/2022], a day after the money was stolen but this was against the bank’s advice as they had promised to ‘resolve this internally.’   What has happened since she reported the case is every bank customer nightmare.

At Equity Bank, every manager she has been referred to has been evasive. It’s as though they all fear someone at the top will find out who helped her! Rose never registered for internet banking. Armed with bank statements and other documents which clearly back up her case, she begged for my help.

“I need a voice Aldrine. Please echo my pain. The money is for the family.”  Equity Bank’s manner has been ice cold. Sadistic, even. From top, everyone knows that it is an inside job. The attitude from the chain of command towards Rose has revealed a darker secret within the bank – the big people know. They are complicit. If a customer has not withdrawn money, who has access to their account? The bank.

In Kenya, Equity Bank is one of the biggest, if not the best bank. Not only have they won numerous awards in the industry but they are reputed for their excellence at customer service. Here in Uganda; the numerous cases at central police against Equity Bank, many of which have gone unresolved, project a grim picture. The cartel inside has ensured that customers never get justice. No one will know about it.

Rose has nowhere else to go as blocks have been put at every possible help desk at Equity.  Her example is only a tip of an iceberg. As she shed tears Infront of me, I wondered just what I can do to help. She has engaged a lawyer and Police but who is she? The bank doesn’t care because they know the case will run cold.

UGX47M family savings gone, with a husband demanding an explanation every day for the last one and a half months. This must be hell for any wife. A family is breaking. The thieves at Equity Bank are laughing scornfully. Rose Ahebwa’s case is water tight. No third parties. UGX47M was deposited to open the account and [the same] disappeared after two weeks. Just like that.

We all have bank accounts. It could be any one of us in her position. Should we let Equity Bank continue to act arrogantly and fail to refund Rose Ahebwa’s money? I say no. Let’s save a lady’s marriage. If this happened at Equity Bank Kenya, Rose would have had her money back by now.

If you know any one at Equity Bank, tag them. Tag management. Let them know that we are at them. Ugandans have lately learned how to fight for their rights. And if you have an account with Equity Bank, the writing is on the wall. Your money is not safe.  People, let’s help the lady – it’s Shs47M we are talking about. Family savings.

Draughtsman Peter Kamya has dragged the top bankers to the criminal court accusing them of lawlessly hawking his properties to Sudhir.  The two properties are Simbamannyo building and Afrique Suites Hotel. Simbamannyo is a high-end storied complex positioned behind the Kampala central police station and just opposite the high court building. Afrique Hotel is a 3-star hotel nestled away in Mutungo.

Kamya contends that the two suspects sold his properties in the midst of a lawsuit he had launched challenging the legitimacy of the loans Equity supposedly auctioned the assets for. Furthermore, he argues, the auction was concluded seven days before the due date and after money had changed hands between Sudhir and them.

“For their unethical acts and omissions of the said Samuel Kirubi and Anthony Kituuka, they are not fit and proper persons to be in the management of the Bank or any other Financial Institution in accordance with the 3^rd schedule of the Financial Institutions Act, 2004,” Kamya filed last night.

Following the filing of the criminal charges, the duo have been duly summoned by court to appear for plea-taking. They are obligated to appear at the City Hall magistrates’ court on October 5^th 2021, as per court summons we have since exclusively got hold of.

Whereas your attendance is necessary in  court to answer charges of breach of duty of the mortgagee exercising power of sale contrary to Sections 27 and 39 (3) of the Mortgage Act of 2009, frauds on sale contrary to Section 310 of the Penal Code Act ( CAP 120), conspiracy to defeat justice contrary to Section 103 of the Penal Code Act ( CAP 120) and conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor contrary to Section 392 of the Penal Code Act (CAP 120), you are hereby commanded by the Government of Uganda to appear in this court on the 5^th day of October 2021 at 10.00am or soon thereafter as the case can be heard,” reads the summons dated September 13.

The bone of contention is that whereas Equity bank advertised the auction to take place on October 8^th 2020, Sudhir started paying for the properties on October 1^st 2020. He wired a total of one million United States dollars to the lawyers of the bank known as Katende, Ssempebwa and company advocates.

“The said advance sale of the complainant’s properties was fraudulent and illegal as it was done contrary to the bank’s powers of sale as a mortgagee as provided under the Mortgage Act No.8/2009,” the aggrieved draughtsman submits.

Kamya says the fraudulent sale was conducted with the knowledge and approval of the MD and the Credit manager and that the advance sale amounted to a fraud because it falsified and misrepresented with a criminal motive, Equity’s alleged authority to sell or concealed facts material to its authority to sell.

Sudhir had contacted the lawyers for Equity to ask if the properties were available and the lawyers assured him the bank was going to sell them to no other person or entity apart from him. After giving a corporate guarantee in writing to the effect, Sudhir wired the deposit above to the lawyers in question and later cleared the balance of four million United States dollars.

But Kamya says what Sudhir paid for Simbamannyo was peanuts and that if Equity had carried out a comprehensive valuation of the property, they wouldn’t have sold the property so cheaply. Much as the bank says a company known as Luwaluwa Investments Limited is the one which bought the Hotel, Kamya contends that Sudhir bribed its director one Ronald Luwangula to disguise as the buyer of the hotel yet it was him who actually bought the recreation facility.

The fact that Luwangula is a Supreme Court Clerk, Kamya submits that there is no way he could have afforded to find a whopping USD4.3m, and merely in a matter of days, which he alleges to have paid to acquire the hotel. 

Kamya says the two top Equity officials intentionally caused the rush and illegal sale of the properties so as to obstruct or interfere with the complainant’s right to pursue its claim of illegality of the loans against the bank.

By God’s Grace, the burly businessman, also the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal to Uganda today, Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia one time in the past gave out a really fat bribe but the carrot ended up boomeranging on him.

Under fire for charges related to money laundering, Sudhir offered the bribe to the current security minister, Maj. Gen. Jim Katugugu Muhwezi who at the time, was a Brigadier and head of the yesteryears no-nonsense Internal Security Organization (ISO).

The year was 1991, Muhwezi had arrested Sudhir for trying to smuggle the foreign currencies out of the country. The businessman was chilling in police cells awaiting arraignment after which he was actually remanded in Luzira prison for four months before court released him on bail.

Fearing for the worst, Sudhir decided to wire a bribe amounting to ten million shillings to the Brig. Jim Muhwezi’s wife Account at the then Nile Bank along Jinja Road. He wired the money in equal instalments of UGX5M. He sent the first instalment on November 1^st 1991 and on November 2^nd 1991.

The money was intended to be an inducement for Muhwezi and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) personnel, to block investigations and proceedings of a case in which Ruparelia was accused of attempting to smuggle checks and drafts amounting to UGX194M through Entebbe International Airport.

Aged 35 at the time, Sudhir lost it when Muhwezi rejected the bribe and instead informed the police who charged the giver with corruption, thereby complicating matters for the struggling businessman who was facing charges of the smuggled foreign currencies already.

He was arraigned before then City Chief Magistrate Edward Bamwite. Upon the charges being read to him, Sudhir asked for bail through his lawyer, Henry Kayondo. But the prosecution opposed him, contending that since the suspect had audaciously tried to bribe the DG ISO, he had proven himself capable of interfering with investigations.

The prosecution further submitted how Sudhir on securing bail would be tempted to flee from trial, being a foreigner. Lastly, Sudhir had dodged a number of questions during interrogation by the police, prosecution continued, which meant he was hiding something. Court ultimately remanded Sudhir in order to go and make a ruling on the bail application.

The Sudhir Project

Sudhir Project has been lately running in these pages. This is after he branded the Investigator CEO, Stanley Ndawula, as a total ‘extortionist’ and ‘blackmailer’. He piled this heave on Ndawula after we published a story of how the honorary Doctor had reportedly bought Simbamannyo House from Equity Bank via ‘proven’ fraud.

The story titled ‘An Auction that never was (…) got Sudhir so incensed to the point of hiring hackers who, entered into Ndawula’s social media networks. His agents used the Accounts to post disgusting stuff including nude pics of a one 21yr old Aisha Mutesi, a girl Ndawula had never known before. On top of that, his media team released story after story against Ndawula.

Not done, the hackers went for all the Investigator Staff members’ accounts and started producing stuff suggesting that all is not well between Ndawula and his colleagues namely, Mr. Muwambi Stephen and Mr. Jacko David Waluluka. The same Accounts are still in the hands of Sudhir’s hackers and are still being used against Ndawula and the Investigator… (Story for another day).

“He started it all. My intention is to inform the public how Dr. Sudhir has no moral authority to label anyone an ‘extortionist and blackmailer,’ he himself qualifies for the same. By the time we are done with him, the public will be contented how the man has ably lived a different life far away from his real one,” Ndawula said last night.  

Later in the evening, Ndawula released a video, distancing self from the trending sickening news. He explained how his introductory investigations had gathered that his Twitter Account had been hacked into, had all particulars and settings changed before the hackers used it to circulate the young lady’s pictures attached to tens of different offensive stories.

That his Facebook and Gmail accounts had been hacked into first last Monday, was becoming an old story by Tuesday. Following the same, social media zealots code-named it a ‘SR vs. SN Battle. “This (Tuesday incident) is not the first. A lot have been circulating about me and to those in the know, they can actually guess who is behind it,” Ndawula said, seeming unbothered. However, speaking to this writer yesterday, he said his tormentors had over crossed the boundaries.

“Circumstantial evidence clearly indicate that it’s Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia’s project to character-assassinate me. He’s done it before to my friend Giles Muhame, the Chimp Reports boss, BOU officials and lawyers as well as several individuals he has fallen out with… so I am not exceptional,” Ndawula said, adding that all the allegations piled onto his person since hackers attacked him, was essentially started by Dr. Sudhir via his WhatsApp public Broadcast on August 11^th 2021.

To this effect, the no-nonsense two-decade long crime investigative journalist did not stop at lamentations but registered the same with Uganda Police Force at Kibuli based CID, imploring them to investigate the matter, but giving in Sudhir as his prime suspect. “We received the complaint and the Director is yet to assign it to the respective department,” Charles Twine, the CID Publicist confirmed last night.

“On this forum, he made several other allegations against my person, some of which, as attached hereto…From that day and moment, people from different social media networks and accounts started replicating and circulating the same allegations against me,” wrote Ndawula in his letter to Crime Investigations Director, AIGP Grace Akullo. Below is the letter in full:                         

“Ndawula Stanley

P.O Box 3093, Kampala

September 7^th 2021

0772621522, 0752799909

THE Director CID

Uganda Police Force

Kampala, Uganda

Dear Madam

RE: REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATIONS INTO ILLEGAL ACCESS/HACKING OF MY SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS AND COMMISSION OF CRIMINAL LIBEL AND OFFENSIVE COMMUNICATION AGAINST MY PERSON, BUSINESSES AND OTHER PEOPLE

My name is Stanley Ndawula, a 50yr Ugandan resident of Kisaasi, Kasaana village, Kyanja Parish, Nakawa Division in Kampala District. I’m the CEO of The Investigator Publications (U) Limited, a Company running a news website via www.theinvestigatornews.com. I am also the Chairman of GIA Investments (U) Limited, a mother company to Yaya Xtra Residence (U) Limited which runs an organic foods restaurant in Kisaasi along Kulambiro ring road.

The Introduction 

On August 11^th 2021, a post titled: ‘Coming up soon: Simbamannyo building has been in sponsored news for some time until it slipped out of the owner’s hands! What do you think happened?” Shortly after, an acquaintance called Ussa called me with a request purportedly from Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia and his son Rajiv, to not only pull down the post on The Investigator Facebook page but also stop the story following it. He suggested to meet me but I told him I had no control over his boss’ request. I offered that the story was sourced from a Court Case whose Plaintiff’s lawyer is also The Investigator Company Secretary who, is well known to Dr. Sudhir himself. Ussa seemed to understand and closed the chapter.

On August 18^th 2021, the story titled ‘An Auction that never was: ‘Details how Dr. Sudhir Bought Simbamannyo Seven days before the due date for Public sale,’ was published and the same posted on the official Investigator Facebook page the following day August 19^th 2021. On that very day, Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia went on social media, specifically via his WhatsApp broadcast handle and posted a photo of me and Mr. Friday Kagoro Roberts of Muwema and Co. Advocates, with a caption thus; “I know one of this Gentlemen in Red Shirt who is an extortion And Blackmailer. Any one knows the second Gentlemen??”. He further posted the same in a WhatsApp group called 400 Cups to which I belong. On this forum, he made several other allegations against my person, some of which, as attached hereto.

From that day and moment, people from different social media networks and accounts started replicating and circulating the same allegations against me. On Sunday 29^th 2021, I received a text message purportedly from my daughter and on clicking it, my phone went out. Shortly, I realized I couldn’t access my Facebook and Gmail accounts. From then, the hackers attacked all my social media accounts and also attempted and still trying to hack into The Investigator Accounts both social and mainstream (website) forums.

Yesterday 7^th September 2021, they hacked into my Twitter and posted nudes of a one Aisha Mutesi which went viral. They also created (cloned) the Investigator Website and posted the nudes before screen-shooting and circulating them as if they are from the main Investigator website. I received insults from all over, including on my phone both via calls and WhatsApp. In Aisha’s incident, they impersonated me and asked for money from her or they release her nudes. I managed to talk to her and she informed me that after 10 minutes, before she could even respond to their financial demands, they released the nudes. This means they were dying to credit their claims and or those of the mastermind that I am actually an extortionist.

Distressingly, they tag the President of the Republic of Uganda and other important people including top police officers in all their malicious messages. To my detriment, one such officers, AIGP Assan Kasingye wholeheartedly believed them and even retweeted about the same, hence unknowingly driving it further as a true account of what is being maligned against me!       

Whereas these actions prompted by Dr. Sudhir and or his agents have grossly tortured me psychologically, they have also interfered my privacy and exposed my life to danger. The purpose of this letter is therefore to request you through your Cyber Crime department to instigate a thorough investigation and not only bring the culprits to book but have them answerable for their deeds.”