Uganda Police arrest crypto scammers according to Monitor Uganda. Dunamiscoin collected funds as investment claiming to multiply their money in a few months. This is a common kind of crypto currency scam. Usually, the public perception of cryptocurrency is painted in a negative light due to incidents like this.
Police are holding one of the directors of Dunamiscoin Resources Limited, a cryptocurrency company and is hunting four other directors for allegedly fleecing thousands of Ugandans of about Shs10b in a cryptocurrency scam.
Mr Samson Lwanga was arrested last week and is due to appear in court this week.
Mr Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson, said Mr Lwanga was arrested last Thursday near Dunamiscoin offices on Namirembe Road in Kampala.
“We have already opened a general inquiry file and investigations are going on. We recorded statements from the complainants and arrested one of the directors called Samson Lwanga who is currently detained at Old Kampala Police Station,” Mr Onyango said.
“According to him (Lwanga), they are willing to refund the money, but the problem is that Financial Intelligence Authority froze their accounts. And they cannot access or withdraw any money. We are going to get in touch with Financial Intelligence Authority to prove if what Lwanga is telling us is true on freezing the accounts,” he added.
Mr Lwanga said most of the victims deposited between Shs1 and Shs10m every month.
The company has been running branches in other city suburbs such as Ndeeba, at Freedom City in Namasuba and in other districts such as Mbale, Masaka, Mukono and Arua.
I attended a secret meeting of the victims at KABS Guest House on Martin Road in Old Kampala on Saturday, and heard one of them, an Indian, saying he had lost Shs250m in the crypto currency scam.
However, in Daily Monitor’s latest update, it seems the scam is bigger than first reported. And the story sounds all too familiar.
Investors were encouraged to get their friends and family to participate, only to find out later that they had all been duped
According to the report, at least 1,000 people had registered with the cryptocurrency startup, however, some victims have said the number of people involved is closer to 10,000.
Dunamiscoins reportedly began operating in March, and was paying out to early investors. It came crashing down last week when its offices shut and phone lines were disconnected.
A Mr Samson Lwanga, director of Dunamiscoins Resources Limited, was arrested last week and should appear in court later this week, local news reports.
It’s reported that the scam managed to con 10 billion Ugandan shillings ($2.7 million) out of victims.
The authorities are still on the look out for the other four directors of the company.
Like numerous other cryptocurrency-based scams, Dunamiscoins promised investors and employees large returns in a short space of time. However, after a month, the company shut down its offices, leaving investors in the lurch and employees out of work — many of whom were yet to even start their job. Uganda Police arrest crypto scammers in a new low.
