More top DPP officials face arrest in RBM money laundering case

Three former top government officials Joseph Mwanamvekha, Lloyd Muhara, and Cliff Chiunda face arrests following revelations that more arrests are expected in relation to a money laundering case involving former Reserve Bank Governor Dalitso Kabambe and others.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Steve Kayuni told the court that the  State has concluded its investigations into the matter and indicated that apart from those already in the cooler some more people will be arrested.

So far Kabambe, Henry Mathanga, Rodrick Wiyo, and Leah Donga were arrested following a forensic audit report. The money laundering involved fraudulent local and foreign payments made by RBM between January 1, 2019 and June 30 2020.

Mwanavekha was the Minister of Finance while Muhara was the Secretary to President and Cabinet and Chiunda was the Secretary to the Treasury. These were key to some of the transaction made at the Central Bank.

Kayuni could not disclose who are lined up for the additional arrests but inside sources closer to the case, said the three are among those that are also expected to answer charges in connection with the fraudulent transactions at the Central Bank.

Particulars of the case indicate that Kabambe as governor, Mathanga as deputy governor for operations, Wiyo as director of financial markets operations and Donga as senior dealer for finance and market operations, allegedly abused their authority by paying K4.3 billion to FDH Bank plc without approval of the central bank’s board.