A Ugandan court’s senior clerk is under probe after ordering the release of controversial South Sudan tycoon Lawrence Lual Malong Yor Jnr who had barely served a quarter of his prison sentence.
Malong Jnr, ‘Young Tycoon’ as he likes to call himself, was slapped with a 6-year sentence in 2021 after defrauding two Ethiopian nationals Ksh.124 million ($1 million). According to the Daily Monitor, following his controversial release by Court of Appeal clerk Ms Jane Apio, the Judiciary has launched investigations into her, accusing her of doctoring a release judgement on January 13.
Together with the court’s assistant registrar, Henry Twinomuhwezi, who signed the release judgment, she appeared before courts, attributing her action to an alleged judgment that had quashed the 6-year sentence. On February 9, the court issued a correct version of the judgment release order and recalled Apio’s judgment. Ms Apio is said to have since conceded her wrongdoing and written an apology.
In the case that saw Malong be sent to jail, it is reported that he had enticed the Ethiopians to invest in a gold business and even claimed to be ‘connected’ to Uganda President Yoweri Museveni. He failed to deliver the gold to them as promised.
After a two-year dragged case, he was handed three years behind bars for obtaining money by false pretense, two years for conspiracy to commit a felony, and one year for using false documents. He was charged alongside his accomplices, Mike Lota, a Congolese national, and Gavana Zhikusoka. Mr. Yor first came to public attention when he posted a video of himself lying on a bed splattered with $1 million (Ksh.100 million) which he claimed was a donation to charity
In the video which went viral, he referred to himself as one of ‘Africa’s youngest billionaires’, he also alleged to have previously donated $5 million (Ksh.628 million) to the Kenya Red Cross and the South Sudan Red Cross, adding that he had made other million-dollar donations to churches in Juba and Nairobi. When questioned about the source of his immense wealth in an exclusive interview with Citizen TV’s Jeff Koinange in 2018, a seemingly cagey Mr. Yor said “I got my wealth from my Lord Jesus Christ.”
By, Maxmiller Kerubo
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