How conmen dupe, steal foreign goods suppliers
Through the Gulf Badr Group branch manager in Kampala, Ms Eunice Karugonjo, the Chinese suppliers then reported a case of fraudulent importation and theft of eight containers of polymer from Kukdo Chemicals to Uganda Police. STOCK PHOTO
What you need to know:
- A number of individuals were then linked to the botched deal.
- Speaking to Saturday Monitor about the issue, one of the individuals said someone had sold her the goods and that she has since taken the matter to Commercial Court.
Individuals use the names of renowned companies to order for goods from suppliers in China and other countries with the view of clearing them and disappear without paying for the goods, Saturday Monitor has learnt.
In one case that the police in Kampala are currently handling, goods packed in eight containers were ordered and sent from China, cleared at Mombasa port without sending money to the suppliers in China, and ferried to Kampala, where the cargo was intercepted.
Detectives and other people familiar with the case told Saturday Monitor that the conmen originated a request for the goods purporting to be a branch of a UK-based company.
They requested for the supply of polymers, which is used in making plastics and mattresses.
The request, sent to M/S Kukdo Chemicals (Kunshan) Co. Ltd, China, was for eight containers of poly polymers. It was made via mail.
In their request, a copy of which Saturday Monitor has seen, the people who ordered for the goods promised to pay once the merchandise reached Mombasa, Kenya, a condition to which the suppliers agreed.
The goods were shipped to Mombasa and a scanned copy of the bill of lading, No. 142951687176, was sent to the purported buyers based in Uganda.
A bill of lading is a receipt given by the master of the ship to the person consigning the goods detailing a cargo in transit.
The eight containers were marked as EGHU3694696; EGHU3648509; EGHU 3694649; EGHU3700274; EMCU3882759; EGHU3694700; EGHU3694660; and EITU0259525.
On reaching Mombasa, Saturday Monitor has learnt, individuals purporting to be agents of the importers cleared the goods for onward transmission to Kampala without sending payment to the suppliers as promised. Kukdo Chemicals of China, the suppliers, had tracked their cargo throughout the entire process and now realised that it had been cleared without payments.
They got suspicious and communicated to Gulf Badr Group (U) Ltd (Evergreen), their agents in Kampala to keep an eye on the consignment until it reached its destination in Namanve Industrial Area.
Through the Gulf Badr Group branch manager in Kampala, Ms Eunice Karugonjo, the Chinese suppliers then reported a case of fraudulent importation and theft of eight containers of polymer from Kukdo Chemicals to Uganda Police.
The police dashed to the premises where the goods were being kept, and arrived just in time when one of the containers, marked EGHU3694649, was being cleared out of the premises. During investigations, the police scrutinised the documents used in handling the consignment from Uganda Revenue Authority, particularly bill of lading No. 142951687176 which had been used to clear the goods.
The police then apprehended the clearing agent for the goods, who in turn led them to her client, the one who ordered the goods.
A number of individuals were then linked to the botched deal.
Speaking to Saturday Monitor about the issue, one of the individuals said someone had sold her the goods and that she has since taken the matter to Commercial Court.
Attempts to trace the case records in the said court had not matured by press time.
