Magalasi fraud case adjourned to Aug 9
The Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court has adjourned to August 9 the money laundering and fraud case against former Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) chief executive officer Collins Magalasi and three others.
Magalasi alongside Mera public relations officer Patrick Maulidi, procurement officer Bright Mbewe and businessperson Dorothy Shonga Nkhoma are charged with fraud, money laundering and entering into procurement with an employee.
They are accused of forcing the Mera Internal Procurement and Disposal Committee to award a K107 million contract to Vink Enterprise owned by Shonga Nkhoma.
When the court sat yesterday, the State was supposed to parade witnesses, but lawyer for Shonga Nkhoma sent another lawyer to seek adjournment on the basis that he was not feeling well.
The State did not object to the application as it was for a health-related issue.
The development compelled chief resident magistrate Patrick Chirwa to adjourn the case to August 9 to give chance to the lawyer to seek medical attention.
In an interview later, Director of Public Prosecutions Steve Kayuni said the State was ready yesterday to parade two witnesses.
He said: “We were supposed to have two witnesses; one from CDH Bank and another from a law firm.”
Kayuni said the two witnesses will be paraded when the court sits on August 9.
However, he added that the State would have remained with two more witnesses if the two had testified.
The four accused persons are answering 16 counts of fraud and money laundering in relation to the contracts awarded to Vink Enterprise.
The accused pleaded not guilty to all the charges levelled against them.
