Businessman Zameer Karim who shared his loot with President Peter Mutharika has been revealed as the kingpin of corruption in Malawi.
According to a report by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Malawi Police Service (MPS) awarded a K2.3 billion contract to Pioneer Investment for the procurement of 500,000 food ration packs for MPS.
Karim used the contract to steal K466 million from Malawi Government and defraud CDH Investment Bank of K1.5 billion.
The ACB says it received a complaint in 2017 that Karim was fraudulently awarded a contract for the procurement of food rations.
After investigations, ACB established that MPS Director of Finance Mr G.I Bottoman and Karim connived to award Pioneer Investment the contract.
The bureau found that six months before Karim’s company was awarded the contract, Bottoman made an undertaking to CDH Bank requesting the bank to loan Pioneer Investment K970,284,000.
“Again on 16th August, 2015, Mr Bottoman and Zameer Karim made an undertaking to CDH that MPS wll remit K2,125,000,000 to the bank to enable Pioneer Investment to obtain a loan from the said bank to finance ration pack contract,” says the report.
Six days after the contract was signed, the company asked for upward adjustment of the contract from K2.3 billion to K2.79 billion with the difference being K466 million. This was fraudulently approved by MPS Director of Finance Mr G.I Bottoman.
When Karim received payment for the supply of the packs in 2016, he deposited K145 million to a Democratic Progressive Party Standard Bank Account number 014003192200 managed by Mutharika.
Karim however did not pay back the loan to CDH and the bank succefully sued Pioneer Investment and Attorney General for K1.5 billion.
Last year, Karim demanded an interest of K567, 866, 013 from MPS for late payment of money for the ration pack contract.
Government refused to make a payment for the interest claim.
In its recommendations, ACB said Bottoman and Karim should be prosecuted for stealing K466 million, forging and uttering false documents to CDH and for acquiring K1.4 billion while knowing that the money was proceeds of a crime.
Bottoman is also expected to face charges for abuse of office while Karim will also be prosecuted for claiming an interest of K567, 866, 013.
A good step by ACB let’s see how they run it to an end
no wonder malawi youth run away from their country in search of life abroad ,the love of thy neighbour verse in Malawians doesn’t ring a bell.My brother told me over the phone that in Malawi today pple no longer help each other,Rich pple laughs at poor pple,those who have doesn’t share the knowledge either bcoz they simply don’t want others to be like them.Those in power doesn’t even encourage the youth following them as models, those that aspires to be like them are seen as a threat. I really don’t know what kind of a nation we are trying to create.This isn’t a model our beloved Rev Chilembwe wanted,I don’t think if Gadama,Matenje,Chiwanga comes back to life today will be happy with what we are doing.We’ve allowed the spirit of evil engulf us no wonder women have been chopped breasts,no wonder albinos are killed n no wonder tribalism is such a threat to our own reconciliation efforts