The Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs (OPCS-MFDA) has reported a crime scene at their office, which was allegedly aided by insiders.
According to Peter Warutere, the Secretary for Strategic Communication in Mudavadi’s office, the investigation is ongoing over a cabal of fraudsters and government officers who facilitated their operations at OPCS-MFDA.
Among the arrested people include Mr Salim Swaleh, who is the Director of OPCS Press Service, with the claims that his office is where the deals had been taking place.
“The surveillance was able to also track and identify their co-conspirators, among them Government officers who facilitated their dastardly activities. Those arrested include Salim Swaleh, Director of OPCS Press Service, in whose office the swindlers were found nested with fake door switch-nametags,” part of the statement reads.
According to the statement, those arrested had perfected “renting” office space to criminals by either vacating their offices for the fraudsters’ use or deceptively misrepresenting themselves, such as switching legitimate name tags with fake ones on office doors to advance the scams.
“After being smoked out in one of the OPCS-MFDA Railway offices where the confidence tricksters had set up shop waiting for their victims on Saturday, the group had the audacity to try to bribe their way out.
The operation is said to have been successful after a tip-off alerted OPCS-MFDA security, who then conducted intense surveillance at the OPCS-MFDA Railways Office to disrupt the fraudsters’ reported nefarious acts of impersonation and misuse of the facility.
“The surveillance involved tracking a group masquerading as visitors. They would individually gain entrance into the Railways Building on different dates and times by falsifying their identities (as VIP guests or Government Officers), and the officers they purported to be visiting.”
Furthermore, the government stated that the victims of the fraud were primarily foreigners who were brought into the Prime Cabinet Secretary’s office to meet with high-ranking government officials in exchange for bribes.
