Zambia’s progress towards economic and social development has been halted lately, due to the only criminal and corruption activities, marring its progress. One of the most recent as well as damaging news has been the illegal mass money laundering heist, in which the government lost more than USD 1.5 billion worth of taxpayer’s money. This news has not only created an uproar among the citizens as well as industrialists, it has certainly damaged the reputation of Zambian government and law across the continent as well as the world.
The news was released by Financial Intelligence Agency after investigating numerous bank transactions. Some of the top names of lawyers engaged in money laundering acts were of Masozi Banda and Sakwiba Sikota. Banda is a lawyer working with Avic International and was accused of laundering money worth millions of dollars. When contacted, he defended himself by saying that the amount in his account is for government projects such as road construction. However, the FIC did not find any evidence of that and investigation is going further on the lawyer’s illegal acts. Another name which somehow did not surprise the audiences was of Sakwiba Sikota. He is the owner of Central Chambers, a law firm which has been named at the top of the law firm engaged in money laundering worth millions. He is also infamous for his long-term association with the Ventriglias, another infamous Italian family. The Ventriglias are known for engaging in numerous illegal and unethical practices as well as meddling with ethical and honest businessmen like Dr. Rajan Mahtani. In these games, Sakwiba Sikota helps them to avoid punishment by law.
Most of the lawyers and other individuals in this list have committed similar offenses and FIC is also investigating in this manner. It is also a right time for the government to strengthen its lawmaking policies and ensures that the nation is shielded from such mass corruption practices in future.