K2.4bn Cashgate suspects take plea today
Prosecution has indicated to the High Court in Lilongwe that one of the suspects in the K2.4billion Cashgate trial involving former Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo and 18 others will plead guilty.
Mphwiyo is facing charges alongside former government officials and businesspersons.
When the case came up for hearing yesterday, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mary Kachale said two more accused persons have written her office indicating that they are admitting the facts on charge sheets. This technicality in law would allow them to accept the charges without taking a guilty plea, according to lawyers.
But prosecution did not provide the names of the accused persons taking a guilty plea or those who have admitted the facts of the charges.
Proceedings were adjourned to this morning to allow the defence legal teams analyse a new charge sheet following the dropping of the count of abuse of office for all the former civil servants on trial.
The High Court yesterday operated from an improvised courtroom in the Lilongwe City Council Chamber following an earlier concern that the courtrooms at the court complex in Lilongwe did not have enough space to comfortably accommodate the accused persons, their lawyers and well-wishers.
Presiding judge Esmie Chombo deferred to today plea taking after the defence raised preliminary objections.
The judge ruled that all plea-taking be done jointly by all suspects today.
Kachale told journalists outside the courtroom that the two accused persons who have admitted to the facts of the charge sheets have not technically pleaded guilty.
She said the accused persons, to be named today, maintain that while their bank accounts were used to deposit cash without rendering any services, they did not participate in any theft but were tricked by convicted former tourism officer in the Ministry of Tourism Leonard Kalonga.
Said the DPP: “In essence, they [suspects] have admitted they had been approached by Kalonga. They also admit they had no services rendered to government, they also admit they were paid government money and they cashed the money.”
Kachale, who earlier inside court proceedings, commended the lawyers of the accused persons who made the admissions, elaborated that the admissions were partial admission of crime and technically accepted under the law. n
