KAMPALA, Uganda — A Ugandan court has convicted a former Centenary Bank employee of embezzling more than 124 million Ugandan shillings ($33,000) and laundering the funds through a scheme involving fake foreign exchange transactions.
The High Court’s Anti-Corruption Division found Alex Kyambade guilty Wednesday on two counts of embezzlement and one count of money laundering.
Justice Lawrence Gidudu ruled that Kyambade, a former teller at the bank’s Moroto and Kireka branches, manipulated the bank’s internal system to siphon cash, disguising the thefts as forex deals.
“The prosecution has proved all the essential ingredients of the charges beyond reasonable doubt,” Gidudu said. “The accused exploited a weak core banking system and the absence of proper supervision to orchestrate a complex theft scheme.”
Between February and May 2019, Kyambade diverted over 103 million shillings ($27,400) by creating false records of buying dollars and euros, according to court documents.
He then routed the local currency through Revero Investments Ltd., an agency banking outlet operated by his late associate, Stephen Kyeswa, before transferring some of the money to his personal account.
Alot Geoffrey, the bank’s investigations supervisor, testified that Kyambade created “an artificial scenario as if customers had sold dollars to the bank,” when he was “just stealing Uganda shillings and depositing it on A2’s company account.”
The fraud was uncovered when Kyambade closed one of his forex drawers, triggering a system alert.
The suspicious deposits were falsely backed by fictitious slips.
The court also found that Kyambade drained more than 21 million shillings ($5,600) from dormant customer accounts in Moroto without their knowledge.
Account holders testified they had not made withdrawals from the Kireka branch or traveled outside the Karamoja region.
“The act of debiting customer accounts without their instructions using his credentials was an act of asportation by the accused,” Gidudu stated.
A document examiner confirmed that handwriting on fraudulent withdrawal slips and deposit forms matched Kyambade’s. Kyambade, who was not represented by counsel, blamed the bank’s system, claiming it was faulty.
Witnesses from Revero Investments, including employee Victor Ninshaba, denied any involvement in the alleged forex transactions. “I never sold any forex to Centenary Bank,” Ninshaba testified. “The transactions attributed to me are false.”
The judge noted that Kyambade fled both the bank and his rented residence after being confronted, an act he said showed guilt. Two court assessors advised conviction, calling Kyambade a “forgery expert.”
Kyambade awaits sentencing.
