Sk Mbuga
Kampala Socialite Sulaiman Kabangala Mbuga, aka SK Mbuga, is in Sweden where he together with his wife allegedly defrauded Sten Heinsoo of 53m Kronor.
“He was extradited to Sweden and he was remanded in the custody in a hearing,” the Swedish ambassador to Uganda, Mr Per Lindgard, said yesterday.
He said Mr Mbuga had been extradited to Sweden although Uganda’s ambassador to Denmark and in-charge of Sweden Zake Kibedi had confirmed Mr Mbuga’s presence in Denmark.
Mr Lindgard said the extradition was because of an ‘on-going trial’ in Sweden by the Swedish Economic Crime Authority.
Sweden has been pursuing the extradition of Mr Mbuga from United Arab Emirates (UAE) ever since his arrest in Dubai last February.
However, their efforts fell flat because Sweden and UAE do not have an extradition treaty.
Mr Mbuga was two weeks ago handed over to the Danish police by authorities in UAE under unclear circumstances and was flown to Denmark aboard a Danish police aeroplane.
Though there were claims that Mr Mbuga had conned a Danish businessman of $2.6m (Shs9.5b) in a gold deal gone bad, it is not clear how he left Denmark for Sweden.
SK Mbuga and his wife Vivienne Chebet on their wedding day. COURTESY PHOSO
Sources in Dubai where Mr Mbuga was held for over one year said the Danish government had asked their UAE counterparts to hand over Mr Mbuga after concluding their issues with him.
“The moment Mbuga paid the businessmen in Dubai, he was turned over to the Danish government,” a source in Dubai said.
There was information that Mr Mbuga paid up to Shs1.6b to a Dubai businessman and an Oman businessman to whom he was indebted.
Mr Kibedi confirmed Mr Mbuga’s extradition two weeks ago but has since distanced himself from the incident.
Mr Mbuga, 36, has been in jail in Al Awiir Central Prison in Dubai.
His wife, Ms Angella Vivienne Chebet, 35, was also arrested last week in Kampala and held at Katwe Police Station.