The Financial Crimes Division of the High Court in Lilongwe is from August 5 expected to begin hearing a case involving the alleged misrepresentation of forex figures to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Suspects include former Reserve Bank governor Dalitso Kabambe and his former deputy Henry Mathanga.
They are accused of fabricating figures, to the IMF, which showed that Malawi was doing well in terms of its foreign reserves.
A notice of hearing that we have seen says the State intends to add former Finance minister Joseph Mwanamvekha and former Secretary to the Treasury Cliff Chiunda as co-accused in the case.
“The State will apply to add Joseph Mwanamvekha and Cliff Kenneth Chiunda as joint accused in this case, scheduled for hearing on the 5th and 6th of August 2024 in the High Court, Financial Crimes Division Lilongwe Registry,” the notice reads.
Mwanamvekha’s reinstatement in the case comes after he was discharged in January this year.
The accused allegedly committed the offence to portray an overly positive picture of Malawi’s Net International Reserves and Gross Reserve Liabilities to the IMF during the period from 2018 to 2019.
NIR is defined as the difference between reserve assets and reserve liabilities.
Reserve assets consist of readily available claims on non-residents denominated in foreign convertible currencies.
On the other hand, reserve liabilities include all foreign exchange liabilities to residents and non-residents, encompassing commitments to sell foreign exchange arising from derivatives such as futures, forwards, swaps and options, as well as all outstanding credit from the fund.
In his ruling earlier this year, High Court Judge Redson Kapindu noted that the State lacked sufficient evidence against Mwanamvekha, making the prospect of a conviction against him unrealistic.
In April this year, Kapindu acquitted Kabambe and Mathanga on charges of abuse of office but rejected the challenge to drop the second count of fraud other than false pretences.
The misreporting allegedly led to the IMF cancelling Malawi’s $108 million Extended Credit Facility programme.
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