DEC Arrests Malanji For Money Laundering, Seizes Hotel And Two Helicopters

The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has arrested former Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Malanji for alleged money laundering involving K10 million and $700,000.

Mr Malanji, who currently serves as the Patriotic Front MP for Kwacha Constituency, was arrested yesterday on charges of possessing property reasonably suspected to be the proceeds of a crime.

The DEC’s public relations officer Mathias Kamanga told reporters that Malanji had previously taken out a loan to fund renovations at the Gibson Royal Hotel, which he owns, in Buchi, Kitwe. However, between January 2020 and August 2021, Malanji then allegedly came into possession of K10,000,000 suspected to be the proceeds of crime and used this money to pay off his loan.

The DEC also alleges that Mr Malanji’s helicopter, a Bell 206 Jet Ranger valued at $700,000, was illegally obtained. Both the hotel and helicopter have since been seized and a second helicopter, currently in South Africa, is being brought back to Zambia. 

Elsewhere, the DEC arrested an accountant and accountant’s assistant in Lusaka, for allegedly laundering over K4 million at the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs. 

Augustine Mugandu, 53, and Shadreck Matabishi, 45, were arrested and charged with allegedly withdrawing money on the Electronic Funds Transfer Advice in other peoples’ names and without their knowledge. 

The pair are also suspected to have forged a letter instructing a bank to transfer K476,000 to an account which they had access to and used for their own personal benefit.