Illegal laundering of money is a crime, irrespective of the state, nation or people involved in it. The punishment of money laundering should be same for every violator. However, the current government of Zambia is in jilt as a result of the huge money laundering racket that was recently busted involving some prominent lawyers and legal counselors of Zambia. This bust also highlights the ongoing level of corruption which has penetration across major corporations and even government organizations in the nation.
FIC (Financial Intelligence Center) is an intelligence agency from Zambia which is responsible for the bust. As per their reports, they started picking instances wherein huge among of cash transactions and cash withdrawals were made from individual bank accounts belonging to some prominent lawyers of Zambia. However, the suspicions really started to grow when the cash deposits made by same individuals in same bank accounts did not match. As such, investigations were strengthened resulting in this huge money laundering bust. Masozi Banda, a prominent lawyer from noted law firm Avik International is topping the list of people suspected of involvement in this money laundering scheme. He is suspected of laundering money for Edgar Lungu, a notorious dictator from Zambia. Another name that emerged in the list was Central Chambers, a law agency owned and run by Sakwiba Sikota. Sikota is the legal counselor of the notorious Ventriglias, who have waged a war against the entire nation by illegally capturing the Portland Cement Zambia and destroying the livelihoods and economy of the province by manhandling the factory.
It is time for the Zambian government to open their eyes and start taking strict actions against these repeat violators. It has been speculated that these illicit activities have been going on for years and it is only now that the agencies and lawmakers were able to identify the sources. It is safe to say that once the government starts its honest investigations, number of such cases is bound to unearth.