Buganda Road Court has remanded prominent lawyer Drake Twebaze to Luzira Prison until June 13, 2025 on fraudulent related charges.
Twebaze was arraignment before court on multiple serious charges, including obtaining money by false pretenses, conspiracy to defraud, and forgery.
The arrest and prosecution were a result of a coordinated effort between the Anti-Corruption Unit of State House, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID).
According to court documents, between September and December 2022, in Kampala, Drake alongside unnamed co-conspirators allegedly defrauded $553,500 (approximately shs2.1 billion) from Talib Antonio McDowell, a representative of KG Unlimited LLC, a Florida-based company in the United States.
The prosecution alleges that the accused misrepresented the purpose of the funds, claiming they were required as a “statutory compliance fee” for KG Unlimited to be pre-qualified for a lucrative, single-source government tender to supply a water treatment plant to Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries.
Investigations later revealed that no such procurement process existed.
In a further effort to solidify the fraudulent scheme, Drake and his associates are accused of forging a letter purportedly from the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), misleading KG Unlimited LLC into believing the deal was sanctioned by official Ugandan procurement channels.
Appearing calm but reserved in the dock, Drake did not take plea as the charges are of a nature that require committal to the High Court.
The Buganda Road Grade One Magistrate, Alex Niyonzima ordered that Twebaze be remanded to Luzira Prison pending further investigations and appearance.
