The Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) demanding for the case file in which two Ugandan judges, a lawyer and her husband were sanctioned by the US government for being involved in a child adoption scam.
Retired judge Moses Mukiibi, Soroti High court resident judge Wilson Musalu Musene, lawyer Dorah Mirembe and her husband, Patrick Ecobu were last week sanctioned on allegations of deceiving Ugandan families to give up their children for adoption to US families in a well-orchestrated racket.
The file is currently before the Judicial Service Commission which is charged with the regulation of the judicial officials' conduct and had already commenced investigations in the said scam by the time the US sanctions came up.
According to the DPP spokesperson Jacqueline Okui, the office of the DPP is now going to call for the case file to establish the status of the investigations and determine the next course of action.
"The file will be assessed in light of the information released by the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control - OFAC," said Okui.
On August 17, 2020, the deputy secretary of the Treasury, Justin G. Muzinich, issued a statement saying the said people were involved in the scam to exploit the good faith of Ugandans and Americans for purposes of enriching themselves.
Muzinich added that in several cases, the accused told parents that their children were being taken to study overseas but they were never told that they had given up the rights of their children.
The US government also alleges that Mirembe, with the assistance of her husband Ecobu, facilitated bribes to Ugandan judges and other Ugandan government officials to fraudulently procure adoption cases, either directly or through an interlocutor.
"Mirembe paid bribes to get cases steered to judges Mukiibi and Musene Mukiibi and Musene are current or former government officials who have, directly or indirectly, engaged in corruption," reads the statement in part.
The sanctions mean the four cannot be allowed to travel to America and also if they have any property in the US, all will be seized. On Friday, the two judges told URN that they are open to being investigated saying the accusations against them are false.
The file is currently before the Judicial Service Commission which is charged with the regulation of the judicial officials' conduct and had already commenced investigations in the said scam by the time the US sanctions came up.
According to the DPP spokesperson Jacqueline Okui, the office of the DPP is now going to call for the case file to establish the status of the investigations and determine the next course of action.
"The file will be assessed in light of the information released by the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control - OFAC," said Okui.
On August 17, 2020, the deputy secretary of the Treasury, Justin G. Muzinich, issued a statement saying the said people were involved in the scam to exploit the good faith of Ugandans and Americans for purposes of enriching themselves.
Muzinich added that in several cases, the accused told parents that their children were being taken to study overseas but they were never told that they had given up the rights of their children.
The US government also alleges that Mirembe, with the assistance of her husband Ecobu, facilitated bribes to Ugandan judges and other Ugandan government officials to fraudulently procure adoption cases, either directly or through an interlocutor.
"Mirembe paid bribes to get cases steered to judges Mukiibi and Musene Mukiibi and Musene are current or former government officials who have, directly or indirectly, engaged in corruption," reads the statement in part.
The sanctions mean the four cannot be allowed to travel to America and also if they have any property in the US, all will be seized. On Friday, the two judges told URN that they are open to being investigated saying the accusations against them are false.
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