Uganda's insurance regulator has finally begun cracking down on fraud in the sector.

Cases of insurance fraud have affected many industry players in the past, but no prosecutions were pursued by the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda (IRAU).

IRAU blamed lack of enforcement capacity for its failure to stop these crimes, but increasing fraud-related troubles faced by the industry have seemingly forced it to tackle the problem.

The fraud investigation unit set up by IRAU commenced operations six months ago and published its first anti fraud enforcement report at the end of October.

A list of 15 fraud cases compiled between May and October that are being investigated by the insurance regulator shows credit bond fraud recorded in one case worth Ush1.2 billion ($316,093) topped the list by value during the period under review.

This case is partly linked to a rogue contractor desperate to obtain key financial documents required for bidders interested in handling road and bridge construction projects, sources indicated. Fidelity guarantees recorded two cases worth Ush980 million ($258,143).

Fake deaths attributed to false claims lodged against life insurance policies registered four cases valued at Ush162 million($42,673), while stolen car fraud accounted for one case valued at Ush60 million ($15,805).

Motor accident fraud registered one case valued at Ush27 million ($7,112), while car-damage related fraud yielded one case worth Ush21 million ($5,532), the data shows.

Workman compensation products registered one fraud case worth Ush13, 582,733 ($3,578) while domestic policy fraud posted one fraud case valued at Ush10.45 million ($2,752).

Three premium embezzlement cases were recorded between May and October 2018, with a combined value of Ush9 million ($2,371).