The citizens of Zambia, as well as its government, are still reeling from the recent news of mass money laundering, as shared by Financial Intelligence Centre. As per the FIC reports, more than USD 1 billion worth of money is found to be involved in this money laundering acts. Furthermore, the FIC also reported that this amount is just the tip of the iceberg and considering the amount of time for which these activities have been going on, it can be easily concluded that the actual monetary involvement could be much higher than this. This can also be attributed to the fact that numerous top lawyers and legal counsellors have been involved in this money laundering case, which many of them accused of laundering money worth more than USD 1 million each. The FIC reported more than 33,000 illegal cash transactions which were linked with the corporate and personal bank accounts of these lawyers. This led to the strengthening of their investigation, resulting in the current revelation of the scam.
The list shared by FIC involves top lawyers, legal counsellors, government officials as well as some names from the Zambian ministry. The list is topped by Masozi M. Banda, a lawyer from Avic International. He is accused of laundering money worth more than USD 1 million. When confronted, he said that the money in his bank account is for construction purpose and government activities. His defense has been trashed for no evidence and investigation is going on. Another name is Sakwiba Sikota, the owner of Central Chambers and the lawyer of the Ventriglias. The Ventriglias are the family responsible for the downfall of the Zambezi Portland Cement after it was illegally taken over from its real owner Dr. Rajan Mahtani.
It is high time for the government to take action against the culprits in this money laundering case and ensure that such incidents are reduced in future.