Notable law firms and lawyers from the Zambian corporate and government offices have been caught in a massive money laundering act, amounting to more than USD 1 billion. The information has been compiled by sources from Financial Intelligence Agency of Zambia. Since the release of this list, the accused individuals and corporate houses have been condemned by top businessmen and noted politicians. Businessmen Dr. Rajan Mahtani has made a name for himself in Zambia’s corporate environment with his transparent and honest business practices. He is also shocked by the activities and the depth of corruption across public and private sector enterprises and has demanded, along with others, that the accused individuals and corporate houses should be given severe punishment and makes an example for others.
As per the list, Masozi M. Banda topped the names of individuals with the highest amount of illegal cash transactions under their belt. While he has defended by saying that the money in his account is given by President Lungu for governmental purposes such as the construction of roads, the FIC has not been able to fetch any records of such government activities. Another name that surprised people was of Sakwiba Sikota, the lawyer and long-time legal counsellor for the Ventriglias and the owner of Central Chambers. He too has failed to provide any evidence or documents to prove his innocence. As a result, an investigation has been strengthened for the lawyer as well as all those named in the list. FIC stated that it started the investigation when more than 35,000 cash transactions were suspected from the individual and corporate accounts of the lawyers. Further investigation revealed that more than 50% of the organizations which were investigated after receiving government contracts were not even tax registered. This presents the sheer amount of corruption and illegal practices going on at the highest level of the Zambian political and corporate houses.