Flying squad arrest fake professor in car theft racket

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Jude Mugisha who has been posing as a professor from Makerere University has been arrested over numerous car thefts.

Flying Squad Commandant, Assistant Commissioner of Police-ACP Andrew Kaggwa, a few days ago assigned a team to hunt for the “professor” after receiving close to 20 car theft complaints.

Mugisha has been targeting car hire dealers as well as those who have put sale notices on their cars. Some of the complainants told Flying Squad that Mugisha would approach them smartly dressed and introduce himself as a Professor at Makerere University then afterwards describe the kind of car he needed to hire for his visitors.

The suspect would accept to pay any amount of money the car owners would ask him to pay. In order to win car owners’ trust, Mugisha would show them his identity card in addition to leaving behind his business cards.

In his statement, Mugisha said he would win the car owners’ trust by appearing dressed in suits and would make sure to return the cars on the first hire. He further explained that if someone had various types of cars for hire, he would begin by hiring the one which is a beat cheaper and return it.

“If I found a person having expensive cars, I would begin by hiring like a Raum or Wish,” Mugisha narrated before Flying Squad’s interrogation team. “I would make sure I return it and the next day, I hire another which is a bit expensive and in the process, I would be trusted. On the third time, I would choose the one I targeted to sell to my waiting client.”

For cars in bonds and those which individuals had put on sale, Mugisha would send his accomplices or in rare instances approach the dealers himself as a genuine buyer. In order to hoodwink a person selling his car, he would give deposit of a million shillings or even more, depending on its sale value.

Chrysestom Kangave, a resident of Lubaga narrated that his Toyota Hilux UAX 393D was stolen early this month by a person who disguised as a buyer. He said he had never seen anyone attempting to steal his car until he put a sale notice on it.

“He came and asked to test drive but he disappeared. I got scared when the person failed to return in the few minutes he had promised. I rushed to Nateete police station and I opened a case. The person who took it was not a stranger because he had earlier befriended me,” Kangave said.

Luckily enough, Kangave’s vehicle has been recovered hidden in one of the perimeter walls premises in Bunamwaya, Makindye Ssabagabo Municipality, Wakiso district. The suspect who had stolen Kangave’s vehicle has been identified by one name Ben and he is detained with Mugisha. Ben’s arrest came after he landed in Flying Squad’s covert operatives as he searched for the prospective buyer.

In the last three months, Flying Squad has recovered more than 40 stolen cars. Mugisha alias Professor is linked to theft of at least 13 cars most of which had already been sold to his clients in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Senior Commissioner of Police-SCP Fred Enanga has reminded car owners to utilize simple security devices that can be installed in the steering wheel, pedals, and gear levers. Enanga said people have become too relaxed on securing their vehicles.

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