Mapeto tax evasion case moved to revenue division
The High Court of Malawi has moved from criminal to revenue division the K16.5 billion tax evasion case against Mapeto David Whitehead and Sons (DWS) Limited executives and two Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) customs officers.
The decision followed an application by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and a notice issued by High Court Judge Ruth Chinangwa to have the matter tried at the High Court’s Revenue Registry.
the court session yesterday
Delivering the ruling in her chamber yesterday in Blantyre in the absence of the accused persons’ lawyers, she said looking at the documents presented in court the matter needed to be tried by the High Court’s Revenue Division.
In an application filed by senior State advocate Siphosana Kajumie on behalf of DPP Steve Kayuni, the State said it noticed that most charges related to revenue matters.
Reads the skeleton argument in support of the application: “The present matter is an appropriate matter that should have been commenced in the Revenue Division of the High Court; hence, having noted that such was the case, the present application serves as an amendment to such anomaly as per Section 6 A (2) of the Courts Act.
In an interview after the court proceedings, one of the State lawyers, Modecai Msisha, said they have been always ready for the matter and will just wait for the court to set the date.
Besides Msisha, the State is also being represented by Kayuni, MRA lawyers Beatrice Mwangwela and Anthony Chungu as well as Financial Intelligence Authority legal manager Collin Chitsime.
On the other hand, the defence legal team comprises John-Gift Mwakhwawa, Pearson Wame, Fostino Maele and Fred Chipembere.
The case was committed to the High Court from the magistrates court on March 30 this year following Kayuni’s decision to issue a summary procedure to have the case moved.
On May 23 2021, MRA pounced on Mapeto DWS Limited and arrested five senior executives for multiple cases of alleged tax evasion that was estimated at K10.8 billion before it was revised to K16.5 billion.
