The Uganda Revenue Authority, URA has arrested an impostor who has been defrauding unsuspecting members of the public in the guise of customs officer.
Batte Kasim Abdul who claims to be a clearing agent with Intra Cargo, is said to have informed a client (complainant) that Uganda Revenue Authority was going to auction some vehicles in the month of December 2018.
The suspect reportedly told the complainant about the availability of two vehicles, a Toyota Harrier and a Sahara Pick-up both in good condition. Batte, dressed up in a white shirt emblazoned with a Uganda Revenue Authority logo and customs pips (an imitation of the URA customs officers’ uniform) informed the client that he works in the Commissioner Customs Office.
A statement from URA indicates that Batte took the complainant to a place in Nakawa, near MUBS and generated assessments for the complainant. However, the assessments he issued the complainant were for payment of income tax.
To complete his con, Batte then first collected UGX 1,200,000 from the complainant and after some time, he was given an additional UGX 200,000 as a fee for registration number plates for each vehicle.
However, on Monday 27th January, 2020 Batte was arrested through the aid of the complainant and preliminary findings by URA indicate that he works with a clique to defraud people with the false promise to help them secure vehicles and other goods being auctioned by URA.
The group takes pictures of the items and sometimes bring the clients to the premises of URA.
“We have established that Batte has owned the fake URA uniform since 2015. We also found him in possession of counterfeit URA payment slips with serial reference numbers; 436, 437, 438 and 439”.
The suspect will be produced in court and charged accordingly. Other victims of this suspected fraudster have been encouraged to come out and seek justice.
