East African Gazette
Mukono
The police Crime Intelligence (CI) and the Mukono Central Police team have recorded a significant breakthrough in their investigation into the hacking of mobile money systems.
They have successfully apprehended one of the primary suspects believed to be involved in these criminal activities in Kampala and other parts of the country.
According to the police spokesperson, Fred Enanga the suspect identified as Sabiiti Kaporonyo, 48, who was operating from Namugongo, in Wakiso was arrested.
The suspect had been allegedly hacking into mobile money systems of agents/dealers and stealing money from their agent lines.
“The suspect made millions of shillings from hacking into mobile money systems of agents in Mukono, Jinja, Misindye, Kiira division, Kanoni and Nagalama, among others,” he added.
Enanga said the suspect had also customized his car registration number plates, believing his car movements would not be detected.
He said an immediate search led to the recovery of four Airtel lines and a hacking machine, while his motor vehicle, a Toyota Harrier, registration number UBD 612P, white in color was also impounded.
“As the Joint Security Agencies, we continue to locate and fight these kinds of criminals who steal and hurt innocent business persons. We shall investigate, expose and disrupt them,” he added.
In the previous year, numerous telecom agents and records officials from different companies were apprehended due to their involvement in the recent hacking incident of Pegasus Technologies system.
Pegasus is a third-party aggregator in financial transactions operated by MTN, Airtel, Stanbic bank, and Bank of Africa.
The Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) conducted an operation following the hacking of the Pegasus Technologies system on October 3rd, 2020.
This breach resulted in transactions worth 10 billion shillings being authorized to over 2,000 MTN and Airtel Sim cards.
In response to this incident, Pegasus filed a case at Jinja road police station and also notified the cyber unit at CID headquarters in Kibuli.
It is alleged that certain agents assisted the suspected hackers in withdrawing the funds before authorized access to Pegasus systems was detected.