Controversial business mogul, Zameer Karim, who donated several cars and cash of about K145 million to the then Malawi President Peter Mutharika has been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on fraud related charges.
ACB claims that Karim attempted to defraud Ecobank of K0.8 billion. The graft busting body confirmed the arrest, saying Karim who attempted to fraudulently obtain a loan of K850 million by using Malawi Police Service guarantee has been re-arrested after he failed to show up in Court. His bail was then revoked.
He was first arrested in December 2018 together with Central Region Commissioner of Police Innocent Bottoman and Senior Superintendent Grant Kachingwe over the Malawi Police Service (MPS) food rations scandal.
Karim was charged with one count of theft contrary to Section 271 as read with Section 278 0r the Penal Code, uttering a false document contrary to Section 360 of the Penal Code and acquiring proceeds of crime contrary to Section 42(1) (c) of the Financial Crimes Act.
“On 14th April, 2021, the case in the republic versus Zameer Karim and others was Court at the Lilongwe High Court. Mr, Zameer Karim did not appear in Court. The Court therefore revoked bail and ordered the Anti-Corruption Bureau to rearrest Zameer Karim.
On 15th April, 2021, the ACB rearrested Mr. Karim as ordered by the Court. He has since been kept in custody at the Blantyre Police Station awaiting to be remanded at Chichiri prison”, reads a statement issued by the ACB.
A report by the ACB which leaked in June showed that Karim was fraudulently awarded a K2.3 billion contract to procure ration packs for Malawi Police. After receiving payment for the contract, the businessman is said to have sent K145 million to the then ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Standard Bank account whose sole signatory was President Mutharika.
After the money was deposited, the president withdrew K65 million from the account between January and October 2016. But the ACB cleared Mutharika who maintained that the money was a donation to the DPP. It was also revealed in 2019 that Karim handed the Mutharika a donation of five vehicles worth K85 million and Mutharika registered the five vehicles in his name.
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