16 17 AUGUST 2016 HOTEL AFRICANA, KAMPALA

Transcription

1 16 17 AUGUST 2016 HOTEL AFRICANA, KAMPALA 1

2 NAVIGATING THE MINEFIELDS OF A SUCCESSFUL FRAUD PROSECUTION Presented by Vincent Wagona Directorate of Public Prosecutions UGANDA 2

3 Fraud involves benefiting from a knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of facts to the detriment of others. 3

4 In Uganda, crimes involving fraud are prevalent in urban settings topped by Kampala. 4

5 Other fraud ridden urban settings according to police crime statistics include Masaka, Kasese, Rakai, Mbale, Kamuli, and Mityana. 5

6 The traditional crimes involving fraud include: Obtaining by false pretences; Issuing false cheques; Counterfeiting; 6

7 Forgery and uttering false documents; Embezzlement; Abuse of office; Causing financial loss; Other corruption cases; 7

8 Conflict of interest; and, Of relevance to this forum, I will emphasize cyber crime. 8

9 In the DPP, we give special attention to fraud cases that involve the misappropriation of funds both in the public and private sector. 9

10 Such cases include corruption, embezzlement, causing financial loss, diversion of public funds, and abuse of office. The cases are handled in the Anti-Corruption Court 10

11 Crimes involving the use of computers and the internet are on the increase. Most crimes now include the use of a computer and the need to obtain electronic evidence 11

12 Computers include all devices that process, store, and communicate data, such as telephones. 12

13 Crimes involving computers include: Identity theft; Gambling; Prostitution; Hacking; 13

14 Network intrusions; Virus distribution; scams; Theft of intellectual property; Terrorism 14

15 Password harvesting; Payment cards frauds; Other payment systems frauds e.g. EFT, e-tax payment; Mobile money frauds 15

16 The victims of cyber crime, especially leading to financial losses include; Government institutions such as Min. of Finance, BOU, and URA; 16

17 Financial institutions; Telecommunication companies; Cable television services; Import and export businesses and consultancies; 17

18 Health care schemes; Insurance schemes; Utility companies water, electricity bill payments. 18

19 1) In a case involving fraudulent transfer of up to 5 million USD between Standard Chartered Bank, Nairobi and Barclays Bank, Kampala. Some Ugandans and Congolese implicated. 19

20 2) We have had cases where money is stolen by unauthorized logging into bank computers and transferring money from one account to another. 20

21 3) A bank customer was most of the time operating from South Africa and had never applied for an ATM card. It was discovered that someone had an ATM card for his account and was withdrawing money from the account. 21

22 4) Years back, some ICC officials while in Uganda, used credit cards in a hotel in Entebbe. Later, their credit card details reported used by fraudsters for shopping in Dubai & S/Africa. 22

23 5) We get reports of increasing acts of Skimming. This is a practice to capture personal identification information from ATM terminals and use it to clone ATM cards. 23

24 1) UG-vs-GUSTER NSUBUGA & ORS: URA e-tax Payment System Hacking. Accused, assisted by insiders, used laptops to remotely access the system at the Nakawa URA premises. Convicted. 24

25 2) MTN Mobile Money Fraud: Some employees working with outsiders abused the system and defrauded MTN of more than UGX 10 Billion. 25

26 3) ATM Fraud by Bulgarians: Accused attempted to use cloned ATM cards to defraud Stambic Bank. They were found with many such ATM cards. Accused were convicted in

27 4) 2008 Stambic Bank: Fraudster remotely logged on bank system & transferred over USD 3 M. Case lost partly because laptop recovered from accused not examined. 27

28 5) UBA Credit Fraud: Through skimming/cloning, credit card details were used to defraud holders through purchases. Most of the credit card holders are based in foreign countries. 28

29 6) OPM IFMS Fraud Case: Part of the OPM cases involved abuse of the IFMS payment system to make fraudulent Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT). 29

30 1) Investigations and trial are complicated, take long, leading to delayed results; making the public lose patience and confidence in the criminal justice system. 30

31 2) The investigations often span to other countries requiring Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA). MLA responses delay or are not forthcoming. 31

32 3) Limited HR capacity. Fraud cases require varied expertise financial investigators, auditors, handwriting experts, computer forensic examiners, specialist prosecutors; These are few and difficult to retain. 32

33 4) Fraud investigations and prosecutions are resource intensive. They often involve a lot in terms of suspects, actors, equipment, logistics, training and time. Yet budgets are limited. 33

34 5) The involvement of many actors, though a necessity, comes with coordination and communication challenges. The risk is to strain relations among actors. 34

35 6) The syndicated nature of fraud cases makes it hard to obtain and adduce evidence. Many who become witnesses are accomplices who are reluctant to provide evidence or testify. 35

36 7) Where public funds are involved, other would be witnesses are disinterested because they are not direct victims of the crimes and for fear of reprisals from the accused persons. 36

37 8) The processes leading to recovery of the proceeds of fraud and corruption are cumbersome and laborious, with many legal huddles. 37

38 9) Defence lawyers create deliberate delays to stall the trials through technicalities and filing of review and constitutional challenges and applications. 38

39 Notably in 2013, many cases at the ACC stalled for more than 6 months due to a Constitutional Petition that challenged the jurisdiction that court. 39

40 Continuous capacity improvement; Regional & International cooperation; 40

41 Effective inter-agency coordination, communication, and collaboration; Continuous information and sensitization of the public. 41

42 Effective laws and mechanisms for witness protection. 42

43 Effective mechanisms for prevention of fraud and corruption should come first. Where the crimes have happened, concerted efforts by all players are needed. 43