K248m Cashgate suspects fail to ‘refund’, go for trial
The Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has asked the High Court of Malawi to start prosecuting the K248 million Cashgate case after suspects Laura Savala and Rex Savala failed to restitute part of the money.
Speaking in an interview after meeting Judge Anabel Mtalimanja in her chambers in Lilongwe, senior assistant State advocate Dziko Malunda said the suspects, who were in 2013 arrested and granted bail, failed to meet one of the major conditions of restitution given to them.
He said: “Over the years, there have been discussions between the DPP and a number of suspects in similar position, a number of them have restituted and their cases were discontinued.
“These two were in the same category. However, the discussions did not bear fruits, so we were here to tell the court that now we are ready to prosecute the matter.”
Malunda did not disclose the proposed amount for restitution, but said that it is less than the original amount. He said the understanding is that when the money was stolen it was distributed among a number of people, and that the contractors were only getting a percentage.
He further said other factors that are considered during restitution include devaluation and interest on the amount.
“The State is ready to start parading its witnesses when the hearing of the case starts on May 7-8 2024,” said Malunda.
In a telephone interview, private lawyer Robert Nthewa declined to comment on the case, saying he was only sitting in for another lawyer.
By last year, five people, namely Kettie Kamwangala, Fatch Chungano, Cecilia Ng’ambi, Sympathy Chisale and Ndaona Satema were freed after paying back the money, according to official documents sourced from the Ministry of Justice.
Malawi Law Society (MLS) honorary secretary Chrispin Ngunde in an earlier interview pointed out that except for the lack of legal backing on the element of discontinuance, there is nothing wrong with plea bargaining conducted within the parameters set by Section 252 A of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence.
By November 2015, there were 124 Cashgate cases before the special Cashgate prosecutor Kamudoni Nyasulu, the DPP and the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the main prosecuting agencies.
In November 2020, there were 94 suspects out of which 40 were convicted and trials for 19 suspects were close to finalisation, representing a near completion rate of 64 percent.
Out of the 40 convictions, ACB alongside Nyasulu secured 22 and no acquittal.
The suspects investigated and convicted included 36 public officers from 10 government ministries, departments and agencies as well as 122 private sector companies, including three legal firms.
Cashgate was exposed on September 13 2013 following the shooting of former Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphiyo, now a fugitive, outside the gate of his Area 43 residence in Lilongwe.
Former president Joyce Banda ordered a forensic audit undertaken by British firm, Baker Tilly, covering the period between April and September 2013. The audit established that about K24 billion was siphoned from public coffers through dubious payments, inflated invoices and goods or services never rendered.
In May 2015, a financial analysis report by audit and business advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers also established that about K577 billion in public funds could not be reconciliated between 2009 and December 31 2014. However, the figure was later revised downwards to K236 billion by another British forensic auditor.
