Malawi Crime: Two arrested over K22m fraud

Malawi Police officers in Mzuzu city have arrested two men for obtaining K22 million by false pretence.

According to deputy police spokesperson in the city Cecilia Mfune, the two men got arrested on Wednesday this week.

Mfune identified the two suspects as 31 year-old Harold Saka and 41 year-old Thomas Nyirenda.

She said the fraudsters were getting money from students and their parents in the city claiming they are officials from a certain non-governmental organisation which would offer scholarships to the students.

The suspects claimed that their organisation has some links with the country’s ministry of gender, children, disability and social welfare, a development that assured the students and their parents of getting the said scholarships.

It has been established that the suspects were collecting K35,000 from a single student as processing fee.

In September the organisation enrolled over 700 students from different schools in the city under the scholarship program.

However, failure by the dubious organisation to give the students school fees raised eyebrows and parents together with some school owners later reported the matter to police in the city.

Police investigations have revealed that the organisation had no agreement with the ministry of gender as per said and it was also known that the collected money was going into the two men’s pockets.

The revelations led to the arrest of the two. Saka comes from Chimizimizi village in the area of Traditional Authority Ntwalo in Mzimba district while Nyirenda hails from Thambalala village Traditional Authority Katumbi in Rumphi.

Meanwhile, police are urging the general public to consult relevant authorities when questionable organisations approach them.

*Additional reporting by Chilenje Chilenje