BY MUZAFALUH KABUULWA & MARIAM NAMAKULA
A team from the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) of the Uganda Police Force (UPF) arrested a Chinese national, Mr. Yinghe Chen, in connection with the Acclaim BLQ Sports fraud.
Mr. Chen was arrested on June 23, 2023, at his residence in UCB Zone in Bukoto 1, Nakawa Division in Kampala. He is the alleged mastermind of the fraud, which is believed to have defrauded over 6,000 Ugandans of over 4.5 billion shillings. The fraud was carried out through Acclaim BLQ Sports SMC, an online betting company that operated under the slogan “You lose, You win.”
Ms. Polly Namaye, the deputy police spokesperson said that the National Task Force led a joint intelligence investigation into the allegations of fraud as the company allegedly promised its customers that they would win even if they lost their bets.
“The National Cyber Taskforce is comprised of CID, Crime Intelligence (CI), ISO, ESO, CMI, Bank of Uganda, NIRA, NITA Uganda and the Uganda Banker Association, among others,” Ms Namaye said in the Friday Police statement.
She also indicated that this brings the number of people arrested in connection with the fraud to five. On May 11, 2023, the police arrested Awori Mary, the wife of Mr. Chen and the registered director of Acclaim BLQ Sports SMC. On June 12, 2023, the police arrested Akoth Justine Oboth, Achola Mary, and Biira Shamim. The four suspects have been produced in court.
“This brings the number of those arrested in relation to this fraud to five(05) people. On 11.05.2023, Police arrested Awori Mary, the wife to Mr Yinghe Chen and the registered Director of Acclaim BLQ Sports SMC. On 12.06.2023, Police arrested Akoth Justine Oboth, Achola Mary, and Biira Shamim. These four suspects were all produced in court. And that the Directorate of CID is working closely with DPP to ensure that Mr Yinghe Chen is produced to court,” Namaye said.
As earlier noted, a great deal of Ugandan citizens had found refuge in using BLQ Sports to gain which devasted many when they woke up on 15th October 2022 and the application was no longer functioning.
“This BLQ made my friend run away, he collected debts as he tried investing in blq. Me too was introduced into it but only invested 10k which has not yielded anything till date” says Ochen Jacob.
There have been various online business scams in Uganda to which many have fallen, victim. On April 29, 2022, thousands of unsuspecting Ugandans lost huge sums of money to online fraudsters masquerading under an international business dubbed chargeanytime.net purportedly from Malaysia.
In 2007, conmen operating under a non-profit organization ‘Caring for Orphans, Widows, and the Elderly’ (COWE) defrauded unsuspecting Ugandans who were tricked to invest and receive high returns.
BACKGROUND
In 2022, a total of 286 cases of Cybercrimes were reported compared to 258 cases reported in 2021 giving a 10.8% increase in this crime category. By the end of the year, 45 cases were taken to Court, 09 cases were not proceeded with while 232 cases are still under inquiry. Out of the total cases taken to Court, 05 cases secured convictions, 01 case was dismissed while 39 cases are pending in Court.
Cybercrimes led to a loss of Shs19billiion in 2022, out of which Shs16.7m was recovered.
