Embattled city tycoon Patrick Bitature and his wife Carol Bitature have rushed to the Court of Appeal seeking for an order to stop criminal prosecution slapped on them at Buganda Road Court.
Early this week, Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi issued criminal summons against the accused persons and directed them to appear before him on 06th February, 2024 so as to take plea on seven charges related to conspiracy to defraud.
Lawyer Robert Kirunda of Kirunda, Wasige and Company Advocates revealed to the Mighty TV10GanoMazima that they have instituted criminal charges against the accused persons on behalf of South Africa’s money lending company Vantage Mezzanine Fund 11 Partnership.
It alleged that the accused person in December 2014 at Diamond Trust Building along Kampala Road through their companies of Linda Properties, Elgon Terrace Ltd and Simba Telecom borrowed Shs38bn from Vantage Mezzanine Fund 11 Partnership and they offered their companies’ shares as security.
However, between 2019 and 2020, the accused persons fraudulently altered shares of their companies with intent to defraud Vantage Mezzanine Fund 11 Partnership of about Shs101bn.
The accused persons further allegedly filed false annual returns in respect of Elgon Terrace Limited at the Uganda Registration Services Bureau in order to cheat Vantage of its value in security interests on charged shares.
The mighty TV10GanoMazima get to know that Criminal Division of the High Court judge Rosette Kania ordered Buganda Road Court Chief Magistrate to restate the criminal charges against the accused person which were dismissed.
To survive prosecution, the accused persons through their lawyers led by retired UPDF soldier Lt. Brian Moogi have decided to challenge the orders issued against their clients.
In their appeal, Moogi claims that his clients were not given the opportunity as an interested party in the matter to be hard.
They want the Court of appeal to issue a court order stopping all criminal charges instituted against the accused persons until the determination of all Civil suits concerning the matter before courts of law.
But the money lender’s agents rubbished Moogi’s prayers noting that he lacks locus to file an appeal in the matter where he was not a party.
They explain that the matter before the High Court criminal Division was between the Director Public Prosecution (DPP) and the money lender’s agents.
Moogi defended his clients on the said ground that they applied to be joined on the case and their application was dismissed without giving them the opportunity to be hard.
Justice Hellen Abulu Obura was allocated the file and set 30th January 2024 to hear the application.
In the same development, DPP through Buganda Road Resident Chief State Attorney Joan Keko wrote a letter informing the private prosecutor and the High Court Judge who issued the order of reinstating the criminal charges against the accused persons that she has taken over the file.
The DPP has powers to take over any private criminal prosecution at any time before judgment is delivered.
Bitature hired Moogi to fight his legal battles after being abandoned by some top city lawyers. Bitature was first represented by MMAKS Advocates but he later hired Muwema and Company Advocates and Solicitors.
Highly placed sources close to the embattled businessman revealed that he spent a lot of money on lawyers at first and he now doesn’t have that huge amount of money that they are charging at his disposal that’s why he resorted to his old friend counsel Moogi.
Sources said that they are very sure that very soon, Bitature will survive the situation because he is expecting billions of money from President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s government after sealing a deal where government is going to purchase his Electromax power plant at Shs.240.9bn even though the Auditor General John Muwanga has already protested the deal.
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That’s obvious the tycoon will have to be saved by the government because history has it that it has always bailed him out of such situations