K20bn bank-gate court plea set for April 26, trial in May

Two businessmen are set to appear before the High Court in Blantyre to take plea in the infamous bank-gate, allegations that they swindled commercial banks of a whopping K20 billion through dubious bank loans.

Pilirani Masanjala, spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said the chairman of Cotton Ginnery Mohammed Ibrahim and his co-accused Abdul Yasmin Reiman will appear in court on April 26 for plea and the court to give directions on how the case should be conducted.

“The prosecution and the defense counsel agreed on some procedures, some counts and charges have been combined,” said Masanjala.

He said the full trial starts in May.

The two suspects are answering charges of theft, money laundering and fraud.

Some banks, including Standard Bank took Ibrahim and Yassin to court after noting that they took some loans from different banks dubiously and had problems in the repayment.