From Kampala luxury to UK jail: Tycoon David Greenhalgh convicted of trafficking fighter jets, missiles to war zones

David Greenhalgh, the British businessman who shot to fame in Uganda through his turbulent, high-spending romance with city socialite Shanita Namuyimbwa, popularly known as "Bad Black," faces a long prison sentence in the United Kingdom after being convicted of running a massive international illegal arms trafficking ring.

On Thursday, Southwark Crown Court in London found Greenhalgh, 68, and his co-accused, 48-year-old Greek national Christos Farmakis, guilty of running an illicit arms brokering operation, according to BBC. The duo attempted to supply military-grade weaponry—including fighter jets, battle tanks, and surface-to-air missile systems—to war-torn countries subject to strict international arms embargoes.

The convictions mark a dramatic downfall for Greenhalgh, whose name remains heavily etched in Uganda’s entertainment and judicial history. In the early 2010s, Greenhalgh was a prominent fixture in Kampala's luxury circles alongside Bad Black. The couple made headlines for their lavish lifestyle, splashing billions of shillings in high-end Kampalabillions of shillings in high-end Kampala hangouts and driving luxury vehicles through their joint real estate company, Daveshan Development Limited.

The glamorous affair ended in 2011 when Greenhalgh dragged Bad Black and her co-conspirator, Meddie Ssentongo, to Uganda’s Anti-Corruption Court for defrauding him of over $4 million (about Shs 11 billion at the time). In 2012, Justice Catherine Bamugemereire sentenced Bad Black to four years in prison, while Ssentongo received an 18-month sentence.

However, British prosecutors revealed that during the same period Greenhalgh was funding a luxurious lifestyle in Kampala and fighting fraud cases in Ugandan courts, he was concurrently orchestrating clandestine global weapons deals.

According to the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Greenhalgh and Farmakis operated their illegal network between July 2009 and December 2016. They targeted conflict zones desperate for hardware, including Sudan, South Sudan, Libya, Iraq, and Iran, where buyers were willing to pay vastly inflated prices.

Greenhalgh, an aviation expert from Croydon, South London, utilized his 'Airservices' group of companies—which operated across the UK, Greece, North Macedonia, Hong Kong, and South Sudan—to mask the illicit transactions. Farmakis facilitated negotiations using a Cyprus-registered entity called Black Betty Consulting.

Together, they sourced heavy military equipment from Eastern European nations like Ukraine, Belarus, Serbia, and the Czech Republic. The terrifying arsenal they brokered included surface-to-air missile systems capable of downing aircraft, combat helicopter gunships, anti-tank missile launchers, mortars, and fighter jets.

Leaked email correspondence presented in court exposed the scale of the operation. In one email, Greenhalgh discussed a proposed deal to supply 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles to South Sudan. He warned a contact that because "Iraq/Syria is hoovering up every piece of small arms in the market," they would need to forge documents and reroute deliveries through third countries because "Europe WILL NOT accept your paperwork."

Greenhalgh was convicted of ten counts of illegal arms trafficking, while Farmakis, who was tried in his absence, was convicted of nine. UK authorities emphasized that as a British national, Greenhalgh was bound by UK trade controls regardless of where his overseas networks were physically located.

"These men showed a blatant disregard for international sanctions, seeking to profit from the illegal supply of weapons to some of the bloodiest conflicts of the past two decades," said Edwige Hill, Deputy Director in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service.

Fourteen years after he captivated Uganda with his deep pockets and dramatic love life, Greenhalgh now awaits his fate behind bars. Southwark Crown Court has scheduled the sentencing of both men for July 22, 2026.

Read Next Article