Outstanding Cashgate case; State out to move court

Outstanding Cashgate case; State out to move court

The Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), through Chief State Advocate Dzikondianthu Malunda, is this morning moving the High Court in Lilongwe to proceed with prosecution of two Cashgate suspects after negotiations with them for restitution have yielded nothing.

The State entered into negotiations with the two suspects, Laura and Rex Savala, to pay back about K90 million to government after the 2013 infamous financial scandal that hit Capital Hill, but only K2 million was paid, according to Malunda.

"This is an old case, the 2013 Cashgate. We had been in discussions with the defence that yielded nothing. So today, we will basically be informing the court that discussions have not yielded any fruits and we need new dates for hearing to proceed in earnest," Malunda explained.

Cashgate, the public finance scandal that rocked Malawi, was exposed by an audit report by British Forensic Auditors Baker Tilly.

Since its exposure, the State has secured a number of convictions and they include businesspersons and civil servants, with others out of jail after they have done their time. 

According to the Baker Tilly audit report, the plunder of the public purse through fraud, theft and unethical actions, which happened under the administration of Dr. Joyce Banda, was done by taking advantage of a loophole in the government's financial management system.

Nearly half the money, according to the report, went to 16 private companies for services they did not provide to government.