The Tuesday morning breach On Tuesday, 13th February 2024, at exactly 9:18 a.m., a finance officer at a local SME clicked on an email link that looked routine, a “payment confirmation” from a well-known shipping partner. The email address matched …
On 4th September 2023, leaders at the agribusiness cooperative approved a UGX 280 million loan to a long-standing distribution partner. The justification was simple: the partner had been with them for 11 years, always paid on time, and was “part …
AI vs AI: Fighting Fraud with the Same Weapon Fraudsters Use Scene: Ntinda, Kampala. March 2025. A junior accountant receives a WhatsApp message: “Hello, Finance, this is the CEO. Urgent supplier payment needed before COB. Here’s the account. Process now.” …
On the sticky floor of a dimly lit bar in Kabalagala, Suspect 1 sealed the deal with a casual handshake. The deal? A multi-million Uganda Shilling “consultancy project” that existed only on paper and in the minds of two co-conspirators, …
The first thing Stella noticed was the silence. It wasn’t the usual kind, the quiet hum of people settling into routine, typing away, phones buzzing, printers hissing. No. This was different. It was the kind of silence that crawled up …
Fraud is not an event. It’s a cultural failure. Fraud doesn’t begin in the finance department. It begins in silence. In excuses. In the unspoken code: “That’s how we do things here.” By the time the money is gone, the …
The age of smart thieves and dumb systems We are no longer chasing thugs in balaclavas or masks. Today’s fraudsters wear suits, manage bank accounts, and approve their payments. They don’t steal at night. They steal during working hours using …
Why most frauds are discovered too late Most fraud is not hidden behind complex code or secret accounts. It hides in plain sight inside expense claims, stock records, procurement paperwork, and a wink across the finance desk. The problem is …
The rise of invisible theft It doesn’t start with a gun. It starts with a click. A wrong link. A fake email. A too-good-to-be-true job offer. Online fraud is no longer the exception, it’s the rule. And in Uganda, cases …
When fraud happens, it is never out of the blue. The signs are always there, ignored, excused, or misread. As an internal investigator and strategist, I have seen organizations lose billions simply because no one asked the obvious question. Let …