ACB pounces on Karim, 2 others
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) yesterday pounced on businessperson Zameer Karim and two senior police officers about six months after revelations of suspected dubious transactions in the K2.7 billion Malawi Police Service (MPS) food rations deal.
The ACB presented a charge sheet to the Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court in Lilongwe which indicated that the trio is charged in connection with a sum of K466 million Karim claimed as additional payment on the initial contract amount in 2015.
Particulars of the case are that Karim, police commissioner Innocent Bottoman and senior superintendent Grant Kachingwe were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday for various offences in relation to the food rations deal through alleged acquisition of proceeds of crime.
Yesterday, the trio, accompanied by their lawyers, first went to ACB headquarters in Mulanje House at City Centre in Lilongwe before they were taken to court to be formally charged.
Chief resident magistrate Violet Palikena Chipawo granted Karim bail on the condition that he pays a K2 million cash bond and surrender travel documents while Bottoman and Kachingwe were released on cash bonds of K250 000 each.
During the court appearance, the trio looked calm and composed as their charges were read out. Bottoman was clad in a brown blazer and soft jeans, Karim wore a blue golf shirt while Kachingwe was in a gray shirt.
Karim of Pioneer Investments is facing three counts of theft of K466 million contrary to Section 278 of the Penal Code, uttering a false document presented to CDH Investment Bank to access a loan contrary to sections 356 and 360 of the Penal Code and acquiring proceeds of crime (K466 million) contrary to Section 42 (1) of the Financial Crimes Act.
On the other hand, Bottoman is accused of uttering false documents which the magistrate said he presented to CDH Investment Bank to enable Karim’s firm, Pioneer Investments, to access a loan.
Bottoman is also accused of abuse of office contrary to Section 25 (b)(1) of the Corrupt Practices Act (CPA) while serving as director of finance at MPS headquarters.
He is alleged to have unilaterally made an undertaking and commitment to CDH Investment Bank to facilitate a loan to Pioneer Investments and that MPS would pay for the businessperson. He is also accused of acquiring proceeds of crime amounting to K466 million.
Kachingwe’s charge is one of forging a document which allowed Karim to access the said loan.
The court released the three on bail following a plea by one of the defence lawyers, Ian Malera, who submitted that the suspects were family men and that it was within their right to seek and be granted bail pending trial.
The case follows a leaked ACB investigations dossier which established that the signature of a co-signatory on Bottoman’s letter to CDH Investment Bank, Bottoman’s deputy Tadius Samveka, was forged.
The investigation showed that on July 16 2015, Bottoman and Karim made an additional undertaking to the bank that MPS would remit over K2.1 billion to the bank, as a guarantee for Karim to borrow a similar amount from the bank.
Bottoman made both guarantees to Karim before the contract was awarded on August 4 2015, contrary to Malawi’s procurement laws.
Six days after signing the contract worth K2 327 087 500, Karim wrote MPS through Bottoman requesting an upward adjustment of 20 percent but it later transpired that the kwacha depreciated against the dollar by two percent in the period in question.
The investigation report also showed that after getting his payment on April 12 2016, the following day, Karim deposited K145 million into a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) account at Standard Bank whose sole signatory is President Peter Mutharika.
But ACB cleared Mutharika, saying he did not personally benefit from the transaction. DPP later pledged to refund the money to Pioneer Investments.
When contacted on the employment status of Bottoman and Kachingwe following their arrest and subsequent bail, National Police spokesperson James Kadadzera said he needed to consult on the matter.
Yesterday, Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee, which planned to meet ACB to find out the progress of their investigations, has since welcomed the commencement of the court process.
In an interview, PAC chairperson Alekeni Menyani said: “We are watching as Parliament.”
In his reaction, human rights defender Charles Kajoloweka, Youth and Society executive director who has been at loggerheads with Karim and Pioneer Investments since the news broke, has also welcomed the court process.
In January this year, former Auditor General Stephenson Kamphasa told PAC that the MPS-Pioneer Investment contract was null and void and withdrew an initial consent for government to pay K567 million in interest.
