Former budget director Paul Mphwiyo, whose near fatal shooting in 2013 removed the lid on the biggest public fraud in democratic Malawi widely known as Cashgate, was on Saturday arrested by Fiscal Police for his alleged involvement in the scandal.
National Police spokesperson Rhoda Manjolo confirmed Mphwiyo’s arrest by Fiscal Police but referred Nation on Sunday to her deputy Nicholas Gondwa for details.
“I am aware of the arrest, but I am in Blantyre so speak to Mr Gondwa for details,” said Manjolo.
Gondwa’s phone went unanswered on several occasions.
But a highly placed source close to the probe, yesterday told Nation on Sunday that the arrest comes as the State prepares to formally charge Mphwiyo with involvement in the K3 billion Cashgate case.
“We have been investigating Mr Mphwiyo for some time. You may have noted that he was never arrested for the Cashgate scandal but other cases which involved tax evasion and we now have evidence linking him to this K3 billion case,” said the source.
The source said Fiscal Police and ACB have been collaborating on the Mphwiyo investigation; hence, the arrest was executed by the Fiscal
Police.
Mphwiyo was also arrested in 2014 on charges of money laundering, theft and conspiracy to defeat the course of justice while his wife was charged with money laundering and theft.
Mphwiyo became the youngest budget director when he was appointed by the Joyce Banda administration but an attempt on his life saw several people who were implicated in his shooting being arrested
