ACB probed Mphwiyo for Cashgate from Sept 2013
At the time former Treasury budget director Paul Mphwiyo was being paraded as victim and fighter against corruption, the Anti-Corruption Bureau was investigating him for Cashgate, we have established.
ACB spokesperson Egrita Ndala told Weekend Nation exclusively that the investigations started in September 2013 and were completed in May 2014. However, information, leading to his arrest was gathered recently.
“The arrest of Mr. Mphwiyo has nothing to do with politics,” argued Ndala when asked if the apparent soft heart of the previous administration towards Mphwiyo may have interfered with the bureau’s work in relation to his case. “The facts of the case do not change with change of Government.”
On May 1 2014 sources close to Mphwiyo’s investigation told Weekend Nation that the probe had been concluded and a decision had been reached to arrest the former budget director.
However, Ndala declined to confirm this on May 2 2014. Ndala only confirmed that the suspect had been under probe all along after the bureau arrested Mphwiyo on Saturday, October 18 2014.
Asked why she refused to confirm the investigation when we asked her on May 1 2014, Ndala said premature release of information into some investigations jeopardises the investigation negatively.
“That’s why the bureau could neither confirm nor deny,” she explained.
Paul and his wife Thandizo were arrested on Saturday, October 18.
On Tuesday, October 21, they appeared before the Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court where Paul was charged with theft and money laundering while Thandizo was charged with money laundering and forgery.
In relation to Paul, the amount is K2.1 billion while Thandizo faces a K50 million allegation.
According to the charge sheet, Paul’s offence was committed in September 2013.
It reads: “Paul Montfort Mphwiyo sometime in September 2013 in the city of Lilongwe laundered 2.1 billion kwacha through various business individuals knowingly or having reason to believe that the said money were proceeds of a crime.”
The theft charge carries the similar particulars.
With respect to Thandizo, her charge sheet reads: “Thandizo Verna Mphwiyo, sometime in September 2013 in the city of Lilongwe used a fictitious trust called Good Deeds Trust to buy a house title Number Alimaunde 2/263 from Mr. Geoffrey James Kayanula at a price of K50, 000, 000. 00 knowingly or having reason to believe that the said money were proceeds of crime.”
Regarding forgery, the charge sheet says: “Thandizo Verna Mphwiyo, being a trustee of the fictitious Good Deeds Trust on 7th May 2010, forged a stamp used by a government department for revenue purposes to stamp the documents of the said Good Deeds Trust.”
They deny the charges.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ndala kunama akanakhala kuti joice bande she is still rulung phwiyo could not have been arrested do not lie to us
Very true. This was truly a case of a fox guarding the henhouse. What a shame! And this Kaphale dude is as crooked as Kasambara. The more things change in Malawi …….
WELL GOING BY NDALA’S EXPLANATION OVER THE DELAY TO ARREST MPWHIYO,ON ONE HAND, ONE CAN TELL THAT SHE THINKS ALL MALAWIANS ARE ALWAYS SLEEPY AND CAN BE TAKEN FOR A GRANTED!!!!!!ON THE OTHER HAND IF NDALA IS MERELY TELLING THE PUBLIC THE PLAIN TRUTH THAT OUR ACB INDEED TOOK 14 MONTHS TO CONCLUDE MPHWIYO’S STRAIGHT FORWARD INVESTIGATIONS,THEN THIS IS A CAUSE FOR CONCERN ABOUT ACB’S GROSS INEFFICIENCY!!!!!!!ALREADY THE BAKILI MULUZI MK1.7 BILLION FRAUD CASE HAS TAKEN ACB 8 YRS.MY TAKE AS A TAX PAYER IS THAT THE ENTIRE ACB WORK FORCE MUST RESIGN FOR INCOMPETENCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!