The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has apprehended and jointly charged two 27-year-old ladies for money laundering, involving over 47.5 Million Kwacha.
The suspects, Natasha Mugode and Semwa Chenda, both of Ndola and directors of Brilliant Global Solution Multi-Purpose Cooperative, were allegedly involved in money circulation schemes.
DEC investigations revealed that the two suspects, along with Dennis Jongwe (a 27-year-old Lusaka resident currently on the run), engaged in unauthorized banking by collecting deposits totalling over 47.5 Million Kwacha from 16,319 contracts between December 2022 and November 2023.
DEC Public Relations Officer Allan Tamba stated that this move violates the Banking and Financial Services Act.
The DEC has launched a manhunt for Jongwe and urges anyone with information on his whereabouts to come forward to expedite the investigative processes.
The suspects operated a money circulation scheme, promising high returns on investments in farming contracts for chilli, okra, chicken, and piggery.
The trio guaranteed returns of 254.9 Million Kwacha over seven to eighteen months without sufficient production to support such returns.
Further investigations revealed that 974,000 Kwacha was transferred to the suspects’ accounts, approximately 4.2 Million Kwacha to an offshore account, and another 4.2 Million Kwacha was found in various personal bank accounts.
Meanwhile, in Chipata District of Eastern Province, the DEC apprehended and jointly charged 42-year-old Joel Phiri and 32-year-old Steven Chirwa for possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime.
According to the investigations, the duo was found with approximately 76 million Malawian Kwacha, equivalent to about 1.1 Million Kwacha in Zambia.
Byta FM
