Lawyer Mbeta accused of bribing Malawi Revenue Authority officer -report

The Anti-Corruption Bureau made an application at the High Court in Zomba to discharge the order which stopped private practice lawyer Frank Mbeta’s arrest and subsequent order for judicial review.

The busting agency has submitted that Mbeta is wanted for bribing an officer from the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA)., The Nation reported on Wednesday.

ACB deputy director general Reyneck Matemba said in a sworn affidavit on February 9 this year, that ACB received a complaint from MRA commissioner general Raphael Kamoto that Mbeta had offered MRA information and communications technology (ICT) security manager Wilson Upindi K2 million to delete information from three computers seized from a suspect   on tax evasion charges.

The bureau further alleges that Mbeta misinformed the court as his warrant of arrest was not linked to issues surrounding his client, Karamat Ullah Chaudry, who allegedly deposited K2 million into the personal bank account of ACB director general Lucas Kondowe.

“That from the foregoing, it is very clear that the warrant of arrest and the warrant of access, search and seizure that the respondent had obtained against the applicant [ACB] had nothing to do with the allegations made that his [Mbeta’s] summoning to ACB was made in bad faith, further that the decision to summon the applicant was actuated by the respondent’s personal vendetta, malice in circumstances clearly demonstrating abuse or improper use of power,” reads Matemba’s affidavit:

Upindi alerted his boss, director of ICT at MRA, Maxwell Mlomba, who took custody of the computers and advised him to meet Mbeta and accept the K2 million which he collected in a black plastic bag at Chichiri Shopping Centre in Blantyre on November 28 2014 and handed over to his bosses.

The High Court has since set May 18 as the date when ACB’s application to vacate the order would be heard before judge Zione Ntaba in Zomba.