Fraudsters hit Malawi prisons: ‘Tainting the image of lawyers’

Prison authorities in the Northern Region have complained that some fraudsters are soliciting money from people whose relatives are in prison on pretext that they would facilitate their early release from jail.

Northern Region Prisons Publicist, Austin Mwansangwale in an interview on Wednesday said the conmen are either claiming to be lawyers, court or prison officials.

“Of late we have been receiving complaints from people who have been duped by the fraudsters.

“We suspect that the fraudsters are ex-prisoners who have a lot of information about the prison set up,” Mwansangwale said.

He explained that the conmen have full names of current prisoners, their offences and jail terms.

“They solicit contact details for the inmates’ relatives and tell them that they can help them to have their relatives released upon paying money ranging from K100, 000 to K250, 000.

“Some unsuspecting people easily give in to such demands after hearing vivid explanation of their relatives’ factual case details,” Mwasangwale said.

He, therefore, warned people nationwide not to fall in such traps.

“This type of daylight robbery has seen many people, especially from Karonga, Rumphi and Mzuzu, being robbed of their hard-earned money,” he said.

Commenting on the issue in a separate interview, Knowledge of the Laws of the Land Executive Director, Christon Ghambi, said the fraudsters are tainting the image of lawyers and their firms.

“We are aware of these unpatriotic citizens who are duping innocent people by claiming that they are lawyers or officers from law firms who can help their relatives get released from prison either by pardon or bail.

“This is very sad and we ask the general public to be aware of such people,” said Ghambi who is also a lawyer

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