FIU probes K600m treasury payouts
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), with the help of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM), is probing how Treasury has paid out to various companies a sum of money estimated at K600 million (about $1.5m).
The Nation
sources indicated on Tuesday that FIU requested RBM for images of cheques that were paid out from what is called the Malawi Development Account.
The development comes at the time social media is awash with allegations of revelations of various financial misdeeds at Treasury and the Accountant General in the wake of the shooting on September 13 2013 of Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo.
Nonetheless, both FIU and Treasury on Thursday feigned ignorance of the probe although the matter has already spread in various offices and social media.
But our sources confirmed that the payments under probe were made between January and September this year and are thought to have been made against dubious transactions.
Malawi President Joyce Banda said Mphwiyo, currently receiving medical treatment at Milpark Hospital in South Africa, was a victim of the fight against corruption in government.
Although authorities are yet to authenticate the President’s claim, there have been a number of versions on financial irregularities which both police and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) have also taken keen interest in.
Asked on the development, FIU spokesperson Masautso Ebere on Wednesday said: “Not now. When I asked the director, she said she is not aware of this issue.”
Secretary to the Treasury Randson Mwadiwa said: “When these people [FIU] are investigating an issue, we are not told, so I am not aware of the issue.”
In the Mphwiyo matter, so far, three people have been arrested. There is a supposed fourth suspect which sources say is the informant in the matter and could become a State witness.
