Lawyer Andrew Obam remanded over Shs 200m defraud against justice Kanyeihamba

A Kampala-based lawyer has been remanded to Luzira prison on charges of money laundering after allegedly defrauding retired Supreme court judge, Prof George Wilson Kanyeihamba, of over Shs 200 million.

Andrew Obam, 38, was arrested by operatives from the State House Anti-Corruption Unit for allegedly failing to return $56,800 (about Shs 212 million) that had been deposited into his law firm’s account under suspicious circumstances.

Obam appeared on Wednesday before grade one magistrate Paul Mujuni at the Anti-Corruption court in Kololo, where he was charged with a single count of money laundering.

Prosecution told court that between October 2022 and September 2024, Obam knowingly received large sums of money into the Bank of Africa account belonging to Loi Advocates, a firm where he is a partner.

The money was allegedly transferred using stolen cheques linked to the 86-year-old retired judge. Court further heard that even after Obam reportedly discovered the funds had been unlawfully obtained, he did not make any effort to refund them.

Because money laundering is a capital offence triable only by the High court, Obam was not allowed to take plea before the magistrate. He was remanded until July 14, 2025, pending further investigations.