Malawi police overwhelmed by Cashgate response

More people than expected are coming forward with information on Cashgate property and bank accounts, police have disclosed.
Police appealed to the public to help them trace properties that were bought using the stolen money as bank balances do not show the truth of the matter.
The Nation wanted to find out the response from the public since the appeal was made.
“It [response] is overwhelming, something that we did not anticipate. This will help us to make more inroads in our investigations,” said Fiscal Police officer-in-charge Yacks Bonongwe on Monday.
Bonongwe, however, disclosed that some information reaching the police comes in raw form, which means more investigations need to be carried out.
He also said the exercise has helped the police to acquire more information that will help them investigate more cases.
“I want to thank the public for being cooperative by coming forward with relevant information that will help the police investigate not only Cashgate cases, but many others. This should not only be a one-off thing, but be continuous,” said Bonongwe.
Police are part of the team investigating Cashgate where a number of suspects have been arrested. So far, over K200 million (US$444 444) was recovered, including through the courts, from three convicts: former principal secretary of Tourism Tressa Senzani (K62 million), Maxwell Namata and Luke Kasamba who collectively paid back K24 million (US$53 333).
Currently, the prosecution is fighting to recover about K2.1 million (US$4 666) from another convict, Victor Sithole; K1.4 million (US$3 111) of the money was used to purchase grain produce while K750 000 (US$1 667) was used to pay for rentals in Area 47 in Lilongwe.