Dane gets five months for bribing Ugandan official
Wednesday, 1st October, 2008
By Vision Reporter
A Danish national, who bribed a Ugandan presidential aide, was on Friday sentenced to a five-month suspended jail term in the UK.
Niels J�rgen Tobiasen, the managing director of a firm in Wiltshire, pleaded guilty to paying �80,000 (about sh248m) in bribes and was given a five-month jail sentence, which was suspended for a year.
He was charged with Ananias Tumukunde, a presidential adviser on science and technology.
Southwark Crown Court presided over by Judge James Wadsworth QC in London heard that Tumukunde demanded the bribes after Tobiasen�s firm was offered a contract to protect delegates at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala last year.
Tobiasen�s firm, CBRN Team, reportedly got six contracts from the Uganda Government worth �500,000 (about sh1.5b).
The UK authority arrested Tumukunde on April 2, 2008 and a fortnight ago, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail.
Tobiasen has been on bail since he was arrested on July 17, 2008 and prosecution said he had not violated it.
The prosecution led by David Whitaker told court that Tobiasen admitted the payments soon after his arrest on July 17, and he had since �fully� cooperated with Crown Prosecution Services.
The two became the first persons to be convicted of overseas corruption since the UK tightened its anti-bribery laws 11 years ago.
The prosecutor also told court that Tobiasen made five payments between June 2007 and February this year to Tumukunde and, a Ugandan army officer, Lt. Rusoke Tagaswire attached to the Presidential Guard Brigade.
The Crown Prosecution Services said Tagaswire has a case to answer.
However, UPDF spokesperson Maj. Paddy Ankunda last week said they had not got any communication from the UK that Tagaswire had a criminal case.
-- Jean-Louis Kayitenkore Procurement Consultant Gsm: +250-08470205 Home: +250-55104140 P.O. Box 3867 Kigali-Rwanda East Africa Blog: http://www.cepgl.blogspot.com Skype ID : Kayisa66
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