Uganda Police have charged a Uganda fraudster, identified as Lumumba Patrick Byarufu, with obtaining money by false pretence after allegedly defrauding a Chinese investor of USD1.25 million in a fraudulent tantalum ore transaction.

The suspect, aged 35, is accused of obtaining USD1,250,952 (approximately Shs4.6 billion) from Chinese national after allegedly falsely representing that he and his accomplices were selling him 44 tonnes of raw tantalite ore.

According to Uganda Police Form 53 issued by the Police Mineral Protection Police Unit (PMPU) in Naguru on November 3, 2026, the alleged offence occurred in September 2026 at Equity Bank Uganda Limited, Bugolobi Branch, in Kampala.

The charge sheet indicates that Byarufu and other suspects who are still at large allegedly obtained the money with intent to defraud the investor by falsely claiming to have 44 tonnes of raw tantalite ore for sale.

He has been charged with obtaining money by false pretence, contrary to Section 285 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 128.

The charge was preferred by Dispenser Karuhanga Edson Kiraaka of the Police Mineral Protection Police Unit.
Byarufu’s latest legal troubles come against the background of an earlier high-profile mineral fraud case in Kenya, where he was prosecuted under different identities.

According to Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the suspect, who is also known by the names Ulundu Patrick Lumumba and Gabriel Kulonda Ilungu, was arrested on April 5, 2024, after arriving in Nairobi from Entebbe, Uganda.

He was accused of defrauding a Chinese investor associated with Yingchen International Trade Company Limited of approximately KSh151 million (about USD1 million) by falsely claiming to supply 84 metric tonnes of tantalum/tantalite ore.

Investigators established that containers declared to contain tantalum ore were allegedly filled with drums of sand instead.

One of the containers reportedly reached China, where it was opened and discovered to contain sand, while other consignments were intercepted at the Port of Mombasa.

The DCI further reported that the suspect had attempted to travel using alternative identification documents, including a Ugandan interstate pass bearing the name Lumumba Patrick Byarufu and a Congolese passport under the name Patrick Ulundu Lumumba.

In June 2025, the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi convicted him of obtaining money by false pretences, contrary to Section 313 of Kenya’s Penal Code.

The court sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment or an alternative fine of KSh10 million and ordered him to refund the KSh151 million to the defrauded investor.

Fresh investigation in Uganda
The latest case raises renewed concerns about fraudulent mineral transactions targeting foreign investors and the use of multiple identities in cross-border commercial dealings.

Ugandan investigators are now pursuing the September 2026 transaction involving Zhang Yu, with other alleged accomplices still at large.

The latest charge sheet identifies Byarufu as the principal accused person in the alleged USD1.25 million fraud.

He should be presumed innocent of the Ugandan charge unless and until proven guilty by a competent court of law.