Cashgate: Lutepo case amended
Special prosecutor in the Cashgate cases, Kamudoni Nyasulu, on Wednesday indicated to the High Court in Zomba that the new charges brought in to chief suspect, Osward Lutepo, have jumped
from K3.1 billion (about $8.1m) to K4.3 billion (about $11.3m).
Speaking in an interview with The Nation, Nyasulu said this was a result of further investigations which have revealed that more money was stolen.
But lawyer representing Lutepo, Osward Mtupila, prevented his client from taking plea on the new charges, arguing that he was served with the notice late. Because of that, the accused took plea on the charges from the old charge sheet, which includes theft and money laundering amounting to K3.1 billion.
The case, in which he was initially accused of stealing and laundering money, has now been amended to possession of stolen property and money laundering.
Speaking after court hearing presided by Justice Radson Kapindu, Nyasulu said there were some bank accounts which were not checked, hence, the amendment.
Said Nyasulu: “New evidence has been brought to our knowledge that the money in question is actually more than what was earlier presented in court.
“Much as it is true that they were served with the new charges late, they will still stay and that is what we will use on the 4th of September after the defence presents its issues.”
According to Nyasulu, the State has already filed for the amendment of the new charges.
He further said the case – which expected to last five days, starting from the September 4 – will parade 14 witnesses: three investigators and 11 civilian witnesses.
Lutepo, who pleaded not guilty to all the charges levelled against him, said his team is not trying to delay the case, “but justice must be served at all costs”.
According to him, his team did not have enough time to look at the new charge sheet as they were served with it yesterday and had to travel from Mzuzu the same day.
“On our way to Zomba, we had a flat tyre and we were all tired and we did not have ample time to look at the charges, hence my failure to take plea on the new charges on the new charge sheet,” said Lutepo.
He is also answering a case of perjury in which he claims that former director of public prosecutions (DPP) Bruno Kalemba, former Justice minister Fahad Assani and Nyasulu forced him to write witness and caution statements to implicate former Justice minister Ralph Kasambara and lawyer Wapona Kita.
