Rodney Muhumuza
24 June 2008
Economic crime detectives are investigating how Meera Investments Limited acquired a prime city plot, in a case that has captured the attention of President Museveni and exposed the mess at the land registry.
A police investigation, whose interim report was completed in May, unravelled a web of forgeries that started with the removal of a protective caveat on Plot 8, Nakasero Road, even as one land registrar managed to detect that the signature of the legitimate owner, Sadruddin G. Habib, may have been forged.
But the meticulous registrar was overruled by another registrar, setting off a chain of transfers that ended with Meera Investment's acquisition of the property. Mr Habib has valued the property at $1.2 million.
Police have so far found no evidence that incriminates Meera Investments, but the interim report, a copy of which was given to Mr Museveni, said several "verifications" needed to be made before the company is absolved of any wrongdoing.
Property mogul Sudhir Ruparelia, whose portfolio of companies includes Meera Investments, was allegedly interrogated by police, but he had not yet provided crucial documents by May 10, when the interim report was compiled.
The report said Mr Ruparelia had been asked to produce the owner's copy of the special certificate of title held by Meera Investments and receipts that would confirm payment of the necessary fees.
The report, compiled by Mr Hillary Odoch, who heads the police's economic crimes department, said there should be further inquiry into "whether there was a legal and actual mortgage of the contested property to Crane Bank Limited".
The report also asked "whether the acquisition of the property by Meera Investments from a mortgage to Crane Bank Limited violated any provisions of the Financial Institutions Act". Mr Odoch yesterday refused to discuss any aspects of the investigation.
Kampala lawyer Alex Rezida, who represents Meera Investments, said on Sunday that his client lawfully acquired the property.
The case is complicated, but its basic facts tell the story of a Canada-based Indian man who, after failing to sell the plot because someone else claimed to own it, soon petitioned President Museveni to end a "conspiracy between officials working in the land office and fraudsters".
In a strongly-worded letter to police, in which he spoke of "a dangerous" trend in Uganda's real estate market, Mr Museveni demanded the announcement of "a competent and uncompromisable team of serious officers" to investigate the alleged fraud.
Through his lawyers in Kampala, Mr Habib, who left Uganda in the 1970s, learnt that Mr Shaban Matovu forged his signature to lift a caveat on the plot, which he soon sold to one Mr Davis Kakwenzire. Mr Kakwenzire then opened an account with Crane Bank on June 12, and the next day he applied and was given a loan of Shs765 million.
Mr Kakwenzire, who used the plot as security, was to pay the loan within 12 months. Curiously, within days of getting the loan, he entered into a mortgage agreement with Crane Bank in which he gave up ownership of the plot.
"Mr Davis Kakwenzire in the statement says that after sometime he realised that he was required to pay the loan and yet he did not have the money as it was still held up in his businesses elsewhere," said a police report that was compiled before the latest one by Mr Odoch.
"So [Kakwenzire] opted to sell the property to enable him repay the loan. Mr Kakwenzire contacted the managing director of Meera Investments, Mr Sudhir Ruparelia, to buy the property since the land was adjacent to his property on Plots 5 and 7, Lumumba Avenue."
The period between the lifting of the caveat to Meera Investment's acquisition was less than four months. Ms Sarah Kulata, the land registration commissioner, has since restored Mr Habib's ownership of the plot, but Meera Investments has responded by filing a suit against her office. Mr Alex Rezida, who represents Meera Investments, said the commissioner's announcement was illegal.
"They removed the name of Meera as the registered owner in defiance of a court order and with the support of police," Mr Rezida said.
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