URA Arrests Two over US$24,000 Super Match Cigarette Export Scam

The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has arrested Frank Mugisha and Muhumuza George suspected of running a fraudulent “export” scheme involving Super match cigarettes. They are charged with obtaining money by false pretense and, manipulation of customs documentation and export entries to defraud investors.

URA says the pair used a phony export deal to trick a Congolese businessman, identified as Masereka Musavuli, into paying more than US$24,000.

According to URA’s intelligence, Musavuli was offered a consignment of 15,000 cartons of Super Match cigarettes allegedly stored in a URA warehouse at Nakawa. Mugisha claimed the cigarettes had been intercepted en route from Kenya and promised to export them for Musavuli.

Muhumuza posed as the owner of the seized shipment. To make the plot convincing, they reportedly took Musavuli to view sacks at the customs warehouse albeit only from outside, and compared them against earlier shared WhatsApp photos. However, URA says there was no legitimate export entry or record to support any true shipment.

The statement further reads, after paying the monies as scammed via an expired Payment Reference Number (PRN), Masereka arranged for packing materials and transport, hiring a truck to deliver the packing bags to URA Nakawa for loading. The truck was weighed empty, impounded at the main gate, and held for three weeks before being released but no cigarettes were loaded.

When the goods never arrived, Musavuli reported the matter to URA (case file GEF 145/2025). Investigators found no trace of any seized shipment, confirming no Super Match cigarettes existed in URA’s warehouse connected to this alleged deal.

URA warned the public not to fall for slick offers of seized or impounded cigarettes.

Acting Manager for Intelligence, Alfred Kyamanywa, stressed that URA does not sell confiscated cigarettes as all seized tobacco is destroyed under the under-Tobacco Control Act, 2015.

Meanwhile, URA’s Commissioner General John Rujoki Musinguzi condemned the scamsters, urging potential investors and business people to verify export documents directly with URA or report suspicious “deals” to the nearest URA office or police station.

“If someone claims they have cigarettes at Nakawa and offers to sell them report them,” he said, promising that the law will take its course.

Musinguzi said, “This is a way of protecting the public from unscrupulous individuals, preserving the integrity of our institution, and sending a strong message: you cannot get away with this. If you do it, then the law will take its course.”

Past actions

In 2024/2025 fiscal year alone, URA destroyed tens of tonnes of illicit cigarettes including Super Match, Oris, Business Royal and others showing its commitment to protecting Ugandans from consuming dangerous commodities, local and international genuine investors from scammers.