Editors PickNational News

Lutepo hands himself to police

Lutepo_closeupBarely one week after declaring he was ready to face the law, businessperson Oswald Lutepo yesterday lived up to his word and handed himself over to police.Lutepo, upon arrival from an undisclosed location, drove straight to the National Police Headquarters at Area 30 in Lilongwe accompanied by his lawyer, Jai Banda.

Malawi Police Service (MPS) deputy national spokesperson Kelvin Maigwa confirmed that Lutepo, 35, was at Area 30 and was being questioned by police officers.

Said Maigwa: “Lutepo is with us and we are questioning him. The kind of charges that will be placed on him will be known later on, but he is with us. He handed himself in the company of his lawyer this afternoon.”

Lutepo has been on the police wanted list in the wake of the Capital Hill cash-gate which was widely exposed following the shooting on September 13 2013 of Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo.

 

Two weeks ago, Weekend Nation reported seeing and verifying a list of 20 bank accounts and their names that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is probing as part of the cash-gate crackdown.

 

Of the 20 frozen bank accounts, eight either wholly belong to Lutepo as an individual or he jointly owns them with partners.

The remaining 12 firms belong to various entrepreneurs, according to information contained in letters that ACB director Justice Rizine Mzikamanda has sent to various banks.

 

MPS said it alerted International Police (Interpol) to issue warrant of arrests for Lutepo and another person, Pika Manondo.

Deputy Police Inspector General Nelson Bophani, who is also in charge of a special crime investigations committee, said Lutepo is wanted in connection with the alleged pilfering of government money while Manondo is a suspect in the shooting of Mphwiyo.

 

Meanwhile, police yesterday searched the safe deposit box of Manondo where they found money amounting to US$184,000 (K73.6 million). The money according to Maigwa is being kept by police as evidence. The search for Manondo who is still at large, continues.

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