Former dfcu bank official held over Shs133 million theft
Police at Wandegeya Police Station are holding the treasurer of Nyakasura School Alumni Association, who was recently fired from dfcu bank, for allegedly using his position in the bank to steal over Shs133 million from association’s accounts.
The accounts were reportedly held in three banks. The suspect who has been in custody since February 1st 2019, is alleged to have forged signatures of account signatories to withdraw money from DFCU Bank, Centenary Bank and Equity Bank.
The bank accounts under the name Nyakasura Renovation are 3201669577 in Centenary Bank, 01011114623702 in DFCU Bank and 1001201067509 in Equity Bank.
The case was reported at Wandegeya Police Station early this week by the Members of the Nyakasura School Alumni Association, a group for which the prime suspect has been the treasurer and also one of the three signatories to the accounts. The association brings together former students of Nyakasura School, located in Kabarole District.
Last week, dfcu Bank announced in newspapers that the suspect and two other staff, were no longer employees of the bank.
Mr Jude Kansiime, the head of Marketing and Communication at the bank did not return our repeated calls to explain the saga.
According to statements recorded by association members, a few weeks ago, they realised that money amounting to Shs98 million was missing from their DFCU bank account and Shs30 million from the Centenary Bank account. Another Shs5.1 million was missing from the Equity Bank account. The total amount of money that was defrauded is Shs133.1 million.
The association members sought explanation from the three banks which produced documents showing that the money had been withdrawn with the consent of all signatories at different intervals and had been picked by the association treasurer.
According to the deputy Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson, Ms Luke Owoyesigyire, the prime suspect forged signatures of his colleagues and used them to withdraw the money while he was still working at dfcu bank and after being sacked from the bank.
"We have already started investigations and we are trying to trace the stolen money. We highly suspect that he was not working alone in this scam," Mr Owoyesigyire said.
The suspicion of not working alone is based on information that the other signatories to the accounts didn't receive any notification of the various withdraws that were affected by the prime suspect and yet it is the banks' procedure that for every transaction, an SMS notification is sent to the account holder or its signatories.
The prime suspect is currently being held on tentative charges of fraud, theft of money and conspiracy to defraud.
Mr Frank Manyindo, the Nyakasura School headmaster, who is also a member of the school's Alumni, said that the banks abdicated their responsibility to protect clients' money.
"It is the responsibility of the bank to protect clients' money. The money was stolen by their staff. The banks should refund it," Mr Manyindo said.
Mr Manyindo said the money had been collected from former students of the school to "for specific work which is not complete."
Mr David Kaija, the head of projects for the Nyakasura School Alumni, said the association has engaged Bank of Uganda to have the money recovered.
Ms Allen Ayebare, Centenary Bank's Chief Manager, Corporate Affairs and Communication said she was out of office and referred us to Mr Michael Bulyerali from the communications department. Mr Bulyerali, however, said he didn't know about the case and promised to get back after consulting.
Nyakasura School, a 93-year-old institution, was one of the powerhouses of education in Uganda.
In 2017 the Alumni embarked on a fundraising drive and up to Shs165 million was realised in cash and pledges.
