Police in Mzimba have arrested a 28-year-old Assistant Human Resources Manager for Mzimba South District Health Office for allegedly embezzling K10.9 million.
The suspect, Boyd Chipeta, is alleged to have embezzled 10.9 million Malawi Kwacha through dubious means where he was depositing the money through some Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) under Mzimba South District Health Office.
Chipeta is alleged to have been depositing salary arrears every month starting from November 2022 up to May 2023 when another member from M’mbelwa District Council discovered the anomaly.
According to information gathered by Police, Chipeta, who is Assistant Human Resources Officer, is suspected to have been creating deliberate arrears for some HSAs which revealed that Chipeta was stealing government money by manipulating salaries of health workers.
The issue came to light on Friday, June 2 2023 as the team responsible for salaries at Mmbelwa District Concil was consolidating June salaries for the council. The team responsible for salaries was shocked after going through the May, 2023 payroll which alerted them that there is something fishy with government money.
It was discovered that Chipeta allegedly processed the salary arrears to nine health workers at Mzimba South District Hospital for November 2022 to May 2023. The salary arrears were being deposited concurrently with the HSAs’ monthly salaries on their bank accounts.
Chipeta would claim back the money from these health workers after they withdrew from their accounts.
The money embezzled is K10,986,583.64.
The matter is still under investigations and the suspect will appear before court once the investigations are over.
Boyd Chipeta hails from Chamawoya Village in Traditional Authority Kambunduli in Nkhata Bay District.
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