Gold scams that used to involve fraudsters using fake paperwork to rob their victims, have become violent, with the criminals now using firearms and killing their victims. The latest victim of a violent gold scam is Jama Munyaradzi, a British-Zimbabwean national, who was robbed of $600 and killed. In December 2025, through a contact only identified as Abdullah, Munyaradzi met Tonny Kasule alias Anthony to discuss a gold deal. According to documents from the Criminal Investigations Directorate and court, Munyaradzi, who wanted gold worth $19,000, met Kasule’s colleagues at a hotel in Kampala. It is alleged that during their interactions with Munyaradzi, Kasule got to know that Munyaradzi had $4.25m in cryptocurrency.
Kasule allegedly plotted to rob Munyaradzi of the cryptocurrency. According to police documents, he reportedly hired several people to aid him in his plans. Police and court documents claim that after several meetings on how they would steal the cryptocurrency, they resolved to use brutal force. They allegedly hired Dan Nabaasa, Paul Tasingika and others still at large to carry help them out the crime. On December 1, 2025, they reportedly abducted Munyaradzi from Hilton Garden Inn at Kamwokya in Kampala City, dragged him in a vehicle and took him to a hide-out, where they allegedly attempted to force him to reveal the password of the cryptocurrency. Munyaradzi reportedly surrendered his passwords, but the suspects were unable to access the cryptocurrency, given the fact that the victim was not the only signatory.
The suspects are accused of robbing Munyaradzi of $600 in hard cash before killing him. It is alleged that they then drove the body to Masaka City, where they dumped it into Lake Victoria. On December 2, 2025, Munyaradzi’s body was found at Malembo Landing Site. Joint investigations by the police and the military led to the arrest of Kasule, Bashir Ali Mugabe, Nabaasa, and Tasingika. They were charged with aggravated robbery and the murder of Munyaradzi. ‘Kasule, Mugabe, Nabaasa, and Tasingika were arrested, and they confessed to the kidnapping, aggravated robbery, and murder of Jama [Munyaradzi],’ a police report stated. The accused were produced before the General Court Martial on murder charges, and were remanded to prison. Munyaradzi’s case is among hundreds of criminal cases involving gold dealing that the security agencies handled last year.
Gold business in Uganda is now the leading forex earner in the country, with $5.2 billion (Shs18.9 trillion) registered in 2025. This has attracted many gold buyers around the world, who come to Uganda to purchase the precious metal. Those seeking the gold are targeted by criminals. Last year, the Police Mineral Protection Unit (PMPU) investigated 135 gold-related criminal cases in which they recovered 3.631 kilogrammes of gold, $1.2m, Shs190.8m and 38 motor vehicles. ‘The common offences in this category are obtaining money by false pretence, dealing in minerals without a licence, theft of gold, aggravated robbery and smuggling,’ the PMPU report shows. The gold-related criminal cases are increasing at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, many gold criminal cases involve high-profile persons, law firms, and security personnel.
This makes it difficult for the victims to detect that they are being defrauded. In May last year, four Police Flying Squad Unit officers, including a Superintendent of Police, were arrested and arraigned in court on allegations of aggravated robbery of gold worth $110,000 from Mr John Vian Tumukunde at Nakawa in Kampala City on May 9, 2025. The four officers were remanded to prison. Their case is still ongoing. When the police arrested a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) deputy commander of a military division and his guards in an alleged armed robbery and abduction of a gold dealer in Mubende District, they were directed to release the suspects immediately.
The suspects were released days later without any charge. Another incident happened in July 2024 after a Ugandan military diplomat sent his brother and an armed UPDF driver in a sedan to Mpondwe, on the DR Congo-Uganda border, to pick a 4.5kg gold consignment. When they reached Mpigi District, they were reportedly intercepted by a Toyota Mark X registration occupied by four armed men dressed in UPDF uniforms on the pretext that they were carrying out an investigation. Although the police led the investigations in the initial stage, the UPDF took over the case later.