UGANDA, Kampala | Real Muloodi News | Police have arrested two men in Kampala on charges of forging a land title.
The duo are accused of using the fake land title to sell off a prime plot of land in Naguru, Nakawa Division at UGX 3 billion, without the knowledge of the land owners.
The spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan Police, Patrick Onyango, disclosed that the accused persons, Denis Ntumwa and Bob Kanaabi and two others who are still on the run, allegedly obtained a special certificate of title on land that belongs to Liao Qingling.
The legitimate owner of the land is a Chinese national who is currently out of the country.
Onyango said, “it’s alleged that around January 2022, the suspects processed a land title of plot 3 Naguru that didn’t belong to them. Qingling had taken long without coming back to Uganda, but had left the land under the care of Lubowa Aziza.”
He added that investigations by police led to the findings that the deal to sell the land was brought by one of the suspects who shared the plan with other three friends. It is not those friends who invested the money to process the special certificate of title.
“They agreed among themselves to arrange UGX 200 million to process the special land title. They processed the title into their names, but before they could put the property into the market they had to give notice to the caretaker to vacate the place,” Onyango added.
When they gave the caretaker notice to leave the property, he informed his boss Mr Qingling of the developments, who instructed his lawyers, Nanyondo and Co. Advocates to take on the matter. The lawyers verified with the land registry about the alleged processing of a special certificate of title concerning that land.
Indeed, it was disclosed that there was another title processed on top of the one the Chinese client had, which they reported to the police.
“Upon interrogation, the two confessed to having issued forged documents for purposes of taking the land. The duo will appear in court on 11 charges all relating to uttering forged documents and conspiracy to commit a felony,” Mr Onyango explained.
In April this year, detectives at Kampala Metropolitan police handled a similar matter where five suspects were held on allegations of obtaining money by false pretence after the fraudulent sale of land.
The detectives found out that the fraudsters lure innocent victims into such transactions by identifying land that has been put on the market in a particular area. Later they engage in forging the land title, national ID, and sim cards of the real proprietor of the land.
Police urged members of the public, especially those interested in purchasing land, to always do due diligence before purchasing the land and to also look out for other opinions regarding the price of land in the same area.
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