UGANDAN COURT JAILS LAWRENCE LUAL MALONG YOR JR OVER $1 MILLION GOLD SCAM

A Ugandan court has sentenced controversial South Sudanese tycoon Lawrence Lual Malong Yor Jr to six years in prison after being found guilty of obtaining $1 million (Sh107 million) via false pretences. Lawrence was handed the sentence by the High Court Anti-Corruption Division in Kampala alongside Mike Lota, a Congolese national, and Gavana Zhikusoka for defrauding Ethiopian nationals. 

Malong was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for obtaining money by false pretences, 2 years for conspiracy to commit a felony and 1 year for uttering false documents. Lota was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for obtaining money by false pretences, 1 year for conspiracy to commit a felony and 1 year for uttering false documents. Zhikusoka was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for obtaining money by false pretences, 1 year for conspiracy to commit a felony and 2 years for uttering false documents.

According to reports, Malong had posed as a son of a general in South Sudan while committing the offence. He further claimed that he was connected to President Yoweri Museveni. The complainants, Wagnew Dessie and Abebe developed a business relationship and they were invited to Uganda to invest in the gold business. 

Upon arrival, they were introduced to two Congolese men and another Ugandan owners who acted as the gold owners. The deal later sparked off transactions traversing Dubai, Nairobi, Hong Kong, Brussels and Zambia in the hope of concluding the transaction.