KAMPALA — Detectives attached to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) have arrested two men over impersonation of the person of URA Commissioner General Mr. John Musinguzi Rujoki.
The duo include Ronald Muhumuziibwe (26) and Francis Mutambuzi was apprehended over creating and running a fake Facebook account in the names of John Rujooki Musinguzi to allegedly defraud the public through false promises of jobs and business opportunities within URA and government.
Mr. Ian Rumanyika, the Manager Public and Corporate Affairs at URA said one of the suspects took advantage of lost national identification (ID) cards to fraudulently register sim cards; used to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.
“Investigations have unearthed these two individuals and useful potential exhibits including seven used sim cards, four unused sim cards and six original National Identification cards that have been recovered from them,” said Rumanyika.
He added that URA started following the suspects following a compliant from an individual who commenced interactions with the ‘fake Facebook account’ on 27th April 2020.
Mr. Rumanyika said the individual had attempted to get in touch with Mr. Rujoki but was instead alarmed when the fraudsters running the fake account “promised him a contract with URA for a kick-back of UGX.10 million”.
The complainant contacted URA authorities, who then began investigations into the scheme and thus arrested the two fraudsters.
The duo will be charged under the Computer Misuse Act and the Penal Code Act.
Rumanyika urged the public to maintain vigilance and contact the Authority through its official contact channels, and to report cases of impostors to URA and Police.
