ACB frees Sattar bank accounts

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has loosened its grip on businessperson Zuneth Sattar’s bank accounts after freezing them for almost two years pending investigations into alleged graft.

ACB  confirmed not renewing the restriction notice in a response to our questionnaire on Friday. The restriction notice expired last month.

The ACB has, meanwhile, defended its non-renewal, saying it was being held back by a proposed arrangement to consent Sattar to withdraw funds for undisclosed obligations.

ACB’s principal public relations officer Egrita Ndala said: “The bureau has always intended to renew the restriction notice on the bank accounts under investigations upon its expiry in August.  

“However, it was giving room to an out of court discussion it engaged with counsel for defendants on some proposed withdrawals from the accounts in question, which his clients intended to make to fulfill some statutory obligations.”

Sattar has been at the centre of a joint probe between ACB and the National Crimes Agency in the UK where he was arrested in September 2021 and granted bail later.

The investigations are linked to multi-billion kwacha food and arms supply deals which his companies struck with State agencies the Malawi Defence Force and the Malawi Police Service.

The probe resulted in arrests of top government officials, including Vice-President Saulos Chilima and former Inspector General of Police George Kainja.

They are being accused of receiving bribes to favour Sattar’s companies in the awarding of contracts. 

Meanwhile, ACB could not shed light on how it has resolved the proposed arrangement to allow Sattar to make withdrawals.

Ndala stated: “This is ongoing.  You may also need to be advised that the investigations herein are huge, complex and multi-layered requiring different approaches.”

A restriction order expires after three months of its issuance, according to Section 23 of the Corrupt Practices Act. The bureau, however, is at liberty to extend it through an application made through a magistrate court.

It reads: “A notice issued under subsection [1] shall have effect from the time of service and shall continue in force for a period of three months or until cancelled by the director, whichever is earlier.

“…But may upon expiry be renewed for further periods of three months on application to a magistrate showing cause why the notice should be renewed.”

Ndala added that the bureau “remains desirous to preserve the money in the bank accounts in question to ensure full recovery of the money lost by Malawi Government to the alleged corruption herein.”

However, a financial crimes legal expert Jai Banda said ACB’s decision not to renew the restriction might mean that the investigators have not established any fraudulent transactions in the accounts.

He said: “Without the restriction being renewed, Sattar is free to make transactions even without the out of court arrangement, ACB is talking about. 

“And again, if ACB hasn’t renewed the order, one would interpret that there’s no evidence which they think is sustainable in regards to those accounts.”

Banda said if there was any wrongdoing, ACB would have applied for the extension of the restriction or the total freeze of the bank accounts in question.

The lawyer, speaking in an interview on Wednesday, however, said the lack of evidence in the accounts does not mean the end of the investigations into Sattar suspected fraudulent dealings.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean they would not pursue other avenues if they think there’s a case against Sattar,” he said.