Independent presidential candidate Kaliya loses K4.5m case against National Bank of Malawi

Independent presidential candidate in the May 21  2019 tripartite elections Rev Hardwick Kaliya has a lost a case against National Bank of Malawi (NBM) in which he was claiming damages for false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, defamation and a refund of the sum of K4 500 000 plus interest and costs.

Kaliya through his lawyer Shepher Mumba told High Court Judge Dingiswayo Madise that on or about March 7  2012, he sold a Mercedes Benz E200 motor vehicle to buyers from Lilongwe at a purchase price of K4.5 Million which was deposited into his account.

He,  however, failed to disclose the names of the people whom he was dealing with in the car sale.

Kaliya further told the court that when he presented his cheque for encashment at the defendant’s bank on 9th March, 2012 he was told the account has a problem, he was later summoned to Victoria Avenue Branch where he met a Mr. Chalunda, former Investigation Manager for bank who called the police and he was arrested and locked up for 10 days.

The complainant was charged with the offence of obtaining money by false pretense to wit an intention to defraud by obtaining K4.5M electronically from the account of Natural Resources College (NRC).

The defendant through lawyer Tamando Chokotho denied the allegations on the premises that they did not give instructions to the police to arrest the claimant and that the bank cannot refund the K4.5 million claimed by the claimant on the basis that the transaction involving the alleged sale of the motor vehicle was fraudulent.

Investigation Manager for National Bank under the Audit and Investigation Department Fyson Thomas, one of the four witnesses which the defense paraded before the court said  the money in question was transferred electronically from the Natural Resources College’s account by their staff using a password for the college.

He said the transfer was made from a computer at the college campus into the Kaliya’s account, a statement which Chalunda, corroborated.

Chalunda told the court that the transaction was suspicious as the complainant’s account did not have a history of large deposits.

In his ruling, Madise found that there was no evidence that a vehicle was actually sold to this buyer from Lilongwe.

“In my considered opinion the complainant is not telling the truth. I find that there was no car in the first place. I find that there was no buyer or his driver from Lilongwe. This was a transaction which was made to defraud NRC and I am convinced on a balance of probabilities that the complainant knew of this fraudulent transaction although he was not successfully prosecuted,” reads part of the judgement which Nyasa Times has.

Madise further noted that fraud was detected and it actually occurred, the discharge of the claimant in the criminal matter notwithstanding, there was reasonable cause to arrest the complainant.

He then ordered that the said sum (tax payers money) K4.5 Million which the complainant and others unknown attempted to defraud  must be returned to NRC with immediate effect.