MONEY LAUNDERING: Court gives the State one month to Complete Investigations against lawyer Nicholas Opiyo

Court has given the state one month within which to complete investigations into the alleged money laundering case against human rights lawyer, Nicholas Opiyo.

Grade One Magistrate Moses Nabende of the Kololo based Anticorruption Court issued the one month ultimatum requiring the state to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to address court on the status of investigations and also when to return Opiyo’s property which were confiscated at arrest in December 2020.

The property include a bag, laptop, mobile phone, his passport and hard cash, all which his lawyers; David Mpanga and Elison Karuhanga said their seizure is a violation of their client’s right to freedom.

The magistrate, Nabende warned that failure by the state to address court on the issues, would see him forward the case file to the High Court Judge for further direction.

Opiyo is charged with money laundering, which can only be heard by the High Court judge 

The decision by the magistrate followed a submission by Opiyo’s lawyer Mpanga in which he asked the Court to hold the state to account for the unending investigations of a case five months since their client was arrested, charged and remanded to prison and later on released on bail pending trial.

He said the continuous investigations into the matter are in total disregard of the accused person’s right to a fair hearing and thus the case ought to be dismissed for want of prosecution.

Opiyo, the Executive Director of Chapter 4 Uganda was on December 22 2020 arrested on allegations that on October 8 2020 at Absa Branch Garden City in Kampala, he received $340, 000; the funds he knew were proceeds of crime.

Opiyo was arrested jointly with four other suspected lawyers, Herbert Dakasi, Esomu Obure, Anthony Odur and Human Rights officer, Hamid Tenywa who were granted police bond.

However, he denied the charges and has since been released on bail.

Opiyo is a lawyer in courts of law and a human rights international award winner is represented by lawyers, Mpanga, Robert Mackay and Karuhanga.

Prosecution alleges that Opiyo on October 8, 2020 at ABSA Bank Garden City Branch, in Kampala District acquired $340,000 (UGX1.2 billion) through ABSA Bank account No.6004078045 in the names of Chapter Four Uganda, knowing at the time of receipt that the said funds were proceeds of crime.

Opiyo is the lawyer representing two NGOs including the Uganda National NGO Forum and the Uganda Women’s Network whose accounts were recently frozen by the Financial Intelligence Authority over alleged involvement in moving money to finance terrorism activities.