Fugitive Buyanga nabbed in SA

HAMILTON Finance founder Frank Buyanga Sadiqi was yesterday arrested in South Africa, where he has allegedly been staying illegally.

Buyanga was arrested in the wee hours of yesterday at his Michaelangelo Towers home during a joint operation involving Interpol South Africa and Hawks.

Buyanga appeared before the Randburg Magistrates Court in the morning following his arrest.

He was remanded in custody to November 17 for bail application on several charges that include child trafficking, violating the country’s immigration laws and forgery.

NewsDay has been informed that the forgery charges emanate from allegations that his South African national identity could not be found in the system.

In a statement, the South African Police Services (SAPS) said: “Sadiqi is wanted by the Zimbabwean authorities for child trafficking, forgery and violation of the Immigration Act.

“The charges emanate from an incident which took place in April 2020 in Zimbabwe, where the suspect kidnapped his next of kin and fled with him to South Africa.

“A warrant of arrest was immediately issued by Zimbabwean authorities after which a red notice was also issued by Interpol Harare.”

The child trafficking case emanate from Buyanga’s long-running child custody battle with his estranged girlfriend, Chantelle Tatenda Muteswa.

According to reports, Buyanga illegally left the country with the child in 2020.

A court ordered Buyanga to return the boy to Muteswa within hours, but Buyanga had already left the country.

He was later listed on Interpol’s red notice.

In 2011, Buyanga relocated to South Africa after he was allegedly charged with defrauding some people through his company, Hamilton Property Holdings.

It was reported that he allegedly changed his name to conceal his identity after he appeared on the Interpol list of wanted people.