Forex bureau robbers were led by woman 

A security guard at Assured Forex Bureau on Johnstone Street in Kampala that was robbed on November 30, 2020. PHOTO/ DAVID LUBOWA

What you need to know:

  • Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said when the management of Assured Forex Bureau reported the case of robbery, a team of investigators was sent to the scene.

The ring leader of a gang that robbed a city forex bureau of more than Shs200m on Monday has been revealed.
According to Mr Daniel Kagabe, the manager of Titanic Building where Assured Forex Bureau rents, on November 7, a brown woman dressed in Muslim-like garb came to his office looking for space to rent for business. She was allocated Room TC30.

“I sent her to our head offices in Kikuubo at Plastic Plaza to pay money for the rent. She paid Shs1m for two months (November and December). She told our cashier that she was called Ninsiima Shamim with telephone contact  0754455118,” Mr Kagabe said.
However, Daily Monitor has established that the telephone number Ms Ninsiima gave to the shop owners is not registered in her names but in the  name of Khor Cornelius Mayakgeer.

Mr Kagabe added that the woman returned with a receipt certifying payment and  he opened the room and handed over the keys to her. He said the woman later brought three men whom she instructed to do some renovations.
He said he was shocked on Monday morning when the forex bureau owner called him to say the safe had been stolen with a lot of money.

The forex bureau owner reported a case of robbery at Central Police Station in Kampala.
“From November 7, 2020, when they paid, they managed to drill a big hole through the wall and entered the forex bureau where they landed on the safe,” Mr Kagabe said. 

Neighbours who run a saloon next to the shop, which the gang used to recce the forex bureau, told Daily Monitor that the woman was identified as Shamim and claimed to be the owner of the room. They said she told them that she wanted to run a mobile money and agency banking business.
“When they occupied the room, they first covered all the doors with mobile money charts. They would close themselves inside for some time and come out once in a day. We thought they were renovating,” one neighbour said.

Investigations
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said when the management of Assured Forex Bureau reported the case of robbery, a team of investigators was sent to the scene.

According to Mr Onyango, the investigators found out that the robbery was carried out by unidentified people who had occupied the room behind the forex bureau.
“When the detectives reached the scene, they recorded five witness statements, recovered a gas cylinder, a black bag, breaking implements, and some burnt currencies of Tanzania, Kenya, USA and Rwanda,” he said.

Mr Onyango also said the detectives obtained different CCTV clips from the neighbouring buildings and are being scrutinised. “We have also obtained the footage from one shop that is near to the room that they had rented but we have not yet viewed it because we are still waiting for the owner of the shop and the complainant to view it together,”  he said.

The forex bureau owner declined to divulge details about the robbery.
“I am still balancing my books of accounts. It is possible I lost more than I reported to police,” the bureau owner said.