The confidence of citizens and industrialists on the Zambian government is at an all-time law, following the recent bust of mass money laundering racket by FIC, an intelligence agency. The investigation, which has been going on for months now, revealed that top lawyers, legal counselors and government officials in Zambia are involved in illegal cash transactions. The amount of cash transactions involved is more than USD 1 billion, which is whopping. At the same time, it has been found that many of these cash transactions are wired to bank accounts in Dubai and China, notoriously known as safe havens for illegal money.
Avik International’s Masozi M. Banda has been named as the biggest money launderer of the decade, engaging in illegal cash transactions worth more than USD 1 billion. The FIC started these investigations after more than 35,000 unauthorized and dicey cash transactions were observed across bank accounts of the suspected lawyers- both private and corporate bank accounts. At the same time, it was also observed that majority of these transactions were highly active during illegal and unethical events like illegal presidential elections. Therefore, it was not difficult for FIC to connect the dots and discover the money laundering bust. Another familiar name in the list was of Sakwiba Sikota, the owner of Central Chambers and the long-term legal counselor and aide of the Ventriglias. The Ventriglias are notorious for engaging in illegal and unethical practices and escaping law or criminal prosecutions by exploiting the shortcomings of the Zambian government, and Sikota has been helping them for decades. For the past 10 years, The Ventriglias have escaped an important case involving Dr. Rajan Mahtani, a noted businessman. The case is for the legal ownership of Zambezi Portland Cement, which most of us are aware that belongs to Dr. Mahtani.
The money laundering bust has definitely questioned the fundamentals of the Zambian government and their ability to establish governance and law in the nation.