Teleology Holdings Nigeria Limited, which recently acquired Etisalat, now 9Mobile, under shady circumstances, a front for dubious Nigerian forex round-tripper, Mallam Isa Funtua, and his son, Abubakar, took their shady deals to Uganda where they were not only chased out but described as “fraudsters”.
After the acquisition of Etisalat (9Mobile), Teleology bought Ugandan state-owned telecommunications company, Ugandan Telecommunications Limited, UTL, for $71 million.
However, the deal hit the rocks after certain Ugandan government officials raised the alarm that Teleology was run by a “mafiasco-like syndicate of fraudsters”. They were not far from the truth.
To launder millions of United States dollars made from scandalous forex and other shady deals in Nigeria, the Funtuas found in Asega Aliga, a 1996 Ugandan law graduate of the University of Dar es Salaam, the perfect front.
Fronting for the Funtuas wasn’t a challenge for Aliga, who headed several financial institutions across Africa and the Middle East, including Barclays Wealth, UBA Capital, and PHB Capital.
The Ugandan front is in his early 40s.
After hurriedly setting up Teleology Holdings, Aliga rushed back to his native Uganda a few months after acquiring Etisalat (9Mobile).
In 2017, Uganda’s UTL was put under receivership. He indicated Teleology Holdings’ interest to buy UTL.
Back in Nigeria, the Funtuas were pulling the strings, using their relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari Presidency to pressure President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda to back the rogue company’s (Teleology Holdings) win the bid.
Sources in Kampala disclosed that, despite the obvious deficiencies of Teleology Holding’s bid, in October 2018, to please President Buhari, President Museveni caved in.
Teleology was announced the winner of the bid to take over UTL.
Teleology’s $60 million bid defeated Mauritius Telecom, which bid $45 million and other bidders such as Afrinet Communications, Hamilton Telecom, and Safaricom.
According to a report of the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA), the Ugandan government agency vested with the powers to investigate contracts and prevent money laundering, out of the six shortlisted companies; only one of the six companies -Mauritius Telecom- was the best firm in spite of offering the lowest assets of $45m.
The FIA report was signed by its Executive Director, Sydney Asubo, and dated May 25, 2018,
“We have not received any adverse information related to non-compliance with any regulatory requirements.
“In addition, the Financial Intelligence Authority has not received any reports on this company [Mauritius Telecom] indicating possible involvement in money laundering or terrorist financing,” noted the report.
The bid won by Teleology was subject to the payment of a nonrefundable fee of $7.1 million within 60 days.
Sources in Uganda and Nigeria said that while Museveni was under pressure from top officials in the Nigerian presidency, he was dealing with heavy resistance from cabinet members who were angry he awarded the UTL bid to a Nigerian firm with no experience in the telecom business.
To stave off a possible political backlash in his cabinet, a source in Uganda said Museveni had to put a caveat in the bid won by Teleology, asking the company to pay $7.1 million within 60 days to guarantee the bid.
However, while Teleology Holdings failed to pay the required $60 million to finally take over the Ugandan State-owned Telco, a report carried out by the Ugandan Government’s Financial Intelligence Authority, FIA, described Teleology as “a company with no clear source of funding and ownership.”
Sources disclosed that once Teleology got wind of the report, they stopped the payment of $60 million bid price and allowed the time given them to elapse. UTL returned back to the market in search of investors.
On April 17, 2019, Ugandan State Minister for Investment Evelyn Anite said they realized that the deal was given to fraudsters and the search for genuine investors was on.
Minister Anite who described Teleology Holdings as “fraudsters”, said it was based on a report which linked the company to the Funtuas who are notorious for Forex scam, and using Aliga, a Ugandan, as a front.
“What happens with UTL? Like you know Kisanja Hakuna Mchezo (term for serious business), and you know Anite.
“I told them these are quack investors and it has come to the fore that they are quack investors.
“We’re back on the drawing board to get a proper investor,” noted the minister.
“One thing I can promise you and promise my president is that; we shall not betray our country to get quack investors or surrender our resources to fake people. That we’ll not do”, added the minister.
“Although Teleology Holdings Limited submitted the highest bid, it was revealed by the FIA that they had no proper record of books of accounts, had no money to Invest, no experience in the telecom business and it was only a Special Purpose Vehicle created with a sole aim of acquiring shares in Uganda Telecom.
“Indeed, my fears were vindicated because up to the present, this shell company has never brought a coin to invest in UTL,” she declared.
Credit: ElombahNews