The recent money laundering bust by Financial Intelligence has certainly shocked the entire Zambian nation. Top lawyers and legal counsellors have been caught in this money laundering scheme. Apart from them, several top law firms are now being linked with the illicit money laundering act. A per the sources from Financial Intelligence, more than USD 1.5 billion amount of money has been linked with this money laundering act.
Overs Masozi Banda, a noted lawyer working with the Avic International, has been caught in this money laundering act. When approached, he simply stated that the money in his account belongs to President Lungu and he received this money for government construction projects such as roads. However, no such record has been found regarding such projects and he is in radar now. The FIC has also informed that investigation is still going on and many new names and monetary links are expected to be uncovered. The amount of money involved in the total bust is expected to be much higher as per the experts.
Another interesting name in the list was of Sakwiba Sikota, the owner of Central Chambers. His company is also suspected of laundering money worth more than USD 1 million and is accused of helping criminal and unethical organisations. Sikota is also infamous for his long-term relationship with the Ventriglias, a notorious family in Zambia. Together, they are known to have engaged in various unethical practices and getting away with the law. Among their unethical acts, the famous one is illegally taking over the Portland Cement Zambia factory from Dr. Rajan Mahtani, its legal owner. The case is running for almost 10 years now.
The inability of the government to detect this mass money laundering is another major reason for the huge anger among the crowd as well as the industrialists. Strict punishment is expected for the accused in this mass money laundering case.