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| Lilongwe High Court |
The Lilongwe High Court has revoked bail of a cashgate convict Leonard Kalonga and has since been sent to Maula prison pending his sentence.
Kalonga, accused of defrauding government money amounting to K3 billion between April and September 2013, has on Wednesday pleaded guilty and got convicted before Justice Fiona Mwale to three counts of money laundering.
Kalonga was arrested on cashgate following his acquisition of 6 Scania Marcopolo buses using government money. However his second charge indicates that the buses belong to Paul Mphwiyo. The charge states, Kalonga facilitated, a baited and aided laundering of K520 million, between July and September 2013, the proceeds which were used in acquisition of the 6 buses for Paul Mphwiyo.
Other charges includes conspiring to defraud government using forged documents money not less than K1 billion which was paid to bogus suppliers and that he was involved in Money laundering of K3, 252, 225 billion, proceeds of serious crime between April and September 2013.
Kalonga pleaded guilty and convicted of all three counts.
Meanwhile the case has been adjourned to a later date and possibly next week for sentence hearing.
However, his caution statement has made revelations of genesis of Cashgate and named some of the key figures in government including other government officers from various ministries and departments who became defrauders after being recruited by the ruling party then.
Key names includes: former President Dr. Joyce Banda, former Budget Director Paul Mphwiyo, former Accountant General Bill Kandoje, chief accountant George Banda, Clemence Madzi including some officers from Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
17 Civil Engineering and Building companies have also been implicated as bogus service providers that were paid huge sums of money without rendering any service to government.
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| Mary Kachale: Kalonga was recruiting fellow workers |
In both State narration of facts to the present case and Caution Statement of Mr. Kalonga indicates that former President Joyce Banda was at the control of such calculated theft of public coffers for the purpose of funding her Peoples Party during the 2014 general election campaign.
Kalonga says at one point Oswald Lutepo spoke to the former president on telephone and that their conversation was put on a loudspeaker. He said Lutepo was assuring her of the availability of funds that was defrauded by the conspiracy team.
He also said apart from being assured by Paul Mphwiyo that nothing will happen to them as people were placed in every strategic areas in all government ministries and departments, officers involved in the scam received a word of assurance of their protection by the former president Joyce Banda through Treasa Senzani.
In his self confession statement, Kalonga is claiming that he was introduced to Paul Mphwiyo by a man from Accountant General’s office and that later, Mphwiyo placed him as recruiter of fellow civil servants from Ministry of Tourism as well as bogus contractors.
Later, Kalonga said he used to collect money from bogus companies after they withdrawn their cheques. Then 60% of the money was for the Peoples Party while the rest was shared among the companies and officers involved. But he said Paul Mphwiyo was the one collecting the money for the party and was delivering the money to state house.
Leonard Kalonga also indicated that most of their meetings were taking place at his house in area 18 and in rare occasions, the meetings happened in other places.
However, he also mentioned that the defrauding group had at one point suspected nontransparent acts from Paul Mphwiyo due to unfair shares.
The former Assistant Director of Tourism in the Ministry of Tourism, Leonard Karonga began working civil servant in 1992.
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