Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court in Kampala has remanded a veterinary doctor to Luzira prison on charges of obtaining money by false pretence.
James Ssekiranda, alias Hussein Abdul, 27, is also accused of operating a recruitment agency without a license from government contrary to Section 38(1)(a) of the Employment Regulations, 2021.
Ssekiranda was separately charged before the Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi and senior principal grade one magistrate Sanula Nambozo.
The court heard that between August and November 2023, Ssekiranda and others still at large defrauded one Teddy Kasenyi of Shs7.2 million by falsely promising her employment in Turkey.
It is also further alleged that Ssekiranda and others still at large between July 2023 and January 2024 operated a recruitment agency for taking Ugandan workers abroad without government license.
He attempted to apply for bail his sureties failed to prove their relationship with him after claiming to be a brother to the mother of his (Ssekiranda’s) wife.
The court erupted into laughter when the surety failed to write his sister’s name prompting the chief magistrate to dismiss the bail application.
“Under the bail guidelines, the relationship between the suspect and the sureties is very important. I have seen it here where people hire professional sureties,” Mr Kayizzi held before remanding Ssekiranda until November 25.
In another court Ssekiranda was charged with additional charges of defrauding one Aloysius Bwoomera of Shs3 million with false promises of employment in Turkey.
Ssekiranda’s case is not an isolated one as several Ugandans have fallen prey to similar recruitment scams. At least 43 Ugandans lost Shs940 million in a fake job recruitment scam for Israel companies. Another scam, Qadar Recruitment Agency, allegedly conned job seekers out of Shs800 million.
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