Blantyre City Council loses K12m to licence fraudsters

Blantyre City Council says it has lost over K12 million to a syndicate that has been defrauding the public by issuing fake business premise licences.

The council also says the fraudsters have been issuing documents for plot allocations and scrutiny of development plans.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, the council’s director of commerce, industry and trade Dennis Chinseu said they have since come up with security features such as Quick Response Code (QR Code) on the documents as a control measure.

He said: “We have noted that some unauthorised officers fraudulently solicit money from stakeholders in exchange for various council services, including the issuance of business premise licences.

“We, therefore, advise businesspeople to first verify the authenticity of their licences through QR Code scanning before paying the fees. The licence can only be deemed authentic if all the information on the licence tallies with that shown on the reader or the scanner. The code reader can be downloaded in their smartphones.”

Chinseu said a number of alleged fraudsters, including the council’s employees, have been arrested since detecting the problem in May this year.

He said they uncovered the syndicate through a QR Code scanning initiative.

“Let me take this opportunity to remind the public that all payments for the council’s services are made at our civic centre offices or through FDH and Standard banks,” said Chinseu.

A businessperson, Jonathan Mangulenje welcomed the council’s initiative, saying it will help to curb fraud.

“The money we pay to the council is used to provide services; hence, it is not good to defraud the council,” he said.

Another resident Yesaya Namondwe said fraudsters affect the delivery of services as the council struggles to meet its expenses in its operations.