DEC Freezes Accounts Belonging To Lungu Ally Findlay

The Drug Enforcement Commission has frozen bank accounts belonging to businessman Valden Findlay, a friend and longtime supporter of outgoing President Edgar Lungu. 

Sources indicate that Findlay was attempting to transfer some K10 million to offshore accounts when the commission stepped in. 

“He wanted some money to be moved out, a lot of money, over K10 million. But before that could be done, there were some orders from DEC that the account be frozen. So as we speak, all accounts for Mr Findlay have been frozen,” the source told News Diggers.

Mr Findlay has not been arrested and the asset freeze is believed to help facilitate an investigation into him, though no specific crime has yet been alleged.

Findlay is a Lusaka-based businessman who in 2019 was implicated in a scandal involving the alleged “drug-lord” Vicky Goswami. Goswami was extradited from Kenya to the United States in 2017 and asked to testify about a drug trafficking syndicate in Africa, in which he identified Mr Findlay as being involved.

Findlay has maintained a close relationship with President Lungu during the latter’s time in office, with the two regularly spotted having meals together and visiting each other’s homes. 

In related news, former Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Malanji has also been summoned by the DEC over the purchase of his helicopter. Reports suggest that Mr Malanji was questioned by officers at 13:00 on Wednesday. 

Malanji purchased the helicopter from a South African company earlier this year, at a reported cost of K30 million. When asked about the source of the funds, the former minister declined to comment.