Maravi

LAZ explains Chiluba's $41m theft judgment

LAZ explains Chiluba's $41m theft judgment
By Noel Sichalwe, George Chellah and Masuzyo Chakwe
Wednesday May 09, 2007 [04:00]

LAW Association of Zambia (LAZ) vice-president Stephen Lungu yesterday said former president Frederick Chiluba will be declared bankrupt if he fails to pay the London judgment sum of about US $41 million. And Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata has told Chiluba to tell the nation how much money he gave President Levy Mwanawasa in 2001 since he had the records.

But Chiluba’s press aide Emmanuel Mwamba has said Chiluba will hold a press briefing during the course of this week, at which he will deal with the issues that have arisen from the case.

Lungu said in an interview that there were a number of processes that could be followed in the recovery of money from Chiluba following the judgment of judge Peter Smith that found him liable of defrauding the Zambian government.

"Where there is total failure to satisfy the judgment, he (Chiluba) can be declared bankrupt," Lungu said. "Nothing will stop the enforcement of a foreign judgment because of the reciprocal agreement that exist between two jurisdictions (Britain and Zambia).

It will be possible to register it in Zambia and enforce it. One of the things that the judgment has done is that it is enforceable in Europe as well as in Zambia. There are about 19 defendants where nine of them are in Zambia while others are in the UK or Belgium. It will therefore, be easy to enforce the judgment since it was obtained in Europe."

He said the judgment has provided 14 days within which Chiluba and others were supposed to pay the initial amount and that if they would not comply, Zambia would be at liberty to enforce and recover the required money that might include the attachment of assets. Lungu said Chiluba and others have therefore, 14 days in which they could pay the money or appeal against the judgment.

He said the London case was a civil matter in which the Zambian government wanted to recover their money and that the case was totally different from the criminal proceedings against Chiluba which are ongoing in the Zambian magistrate courts.

"The London case is very different from the proceedings going on here," he said. "The burden of proof in a civil case is less than in a criminal matter. We therefore, don't anticipate that there will be any interference with the current matters because the state will have to prove these criminal matters beyond reasonable doubt."

Lungu also said the only issue for consideration was the refusal to enter defence. He however, noted that Chiluba had entered defence on February 13, 2006 and this meant that he conceded to the London jurisdiction to determine the matter.

Lungu said this meant that he had started defending himself.
On the issue of jurisdiction and national sovereignty, Lungu said the government had an option of commencing the action in England or Zambia taking into account the number of defendants involved. "It could have been a prudent move to get maximum benefit in the matter," he said.

He said the fact that the matter was determined in London did not mean that the judicial system in Zambia was undermined or had no capacity to handle such cases.
Lungu said of late, there had been some convictions recorded in the plunder cases going on in the Zambian courts.

He further said the London High Court judgment was a step ahead in the fight against corruption. And reacting to Mulongoti's challenge for him to provide information that President Mwanawasa benefited from Chiluba's theft, Sata said President Mwanawasa's 2001 campaigns gobbled more of the funds in question.

"Levy didn't spend a ngwee of his money because he had no money. He remained 100 per cent dependant on Chiluba in 2001. So he shouldn't be too clever. Chiluba has not spoken but he has records of how much he gave Levy. The day he will publish them it will be something else," Sata said. "In fact, let Chiluba tell the nation.

Let him publish the records of how much money he invested in Levy, so that when we recover the money, we recover from both Levy and him. I hope Chiluba will publish those records now and not wait to come and publish them in his memoirs later."

He reminded Mulongoti that it was no longer a secret that President Mwanawasa largely benefited from Chiluba. "In 2001, MMD had no money. I know what I am talking about because I left MMD in September. So when Chiluba brought an unsellable commodity in the name of Levy Patrick Mwanawasa" Sata said.

Sata wondered why he has not been arrested if at all any money was misappropriated during his tenure as claimed by Mulongoti. "What have they found when I was minister without portifolio or MMD national secretary? Why haven't they arrested me?" he asked.

Sata urged Mulongoti to desist from speaking about matters he was ignorant about. "Mulongoti should just shut up because his boss benefited more and let’s not even talk about the motor vehicles. And without the massive amount of money that was pumped in, Levy would not have seen the presidency. Even the Katumbi saga is hanging around Levy because that mealie meal was used in his campaigns.

So what exactly is Mr. Mulongoti talking about?" Sata asked. "When the police arrest a person for stealing property, even the recipient of that stolen property is arrested. So Zambians should recover money from Levy as well. This country can recover more money if we were to have a break down of how much was spent on Levy."

He advised Mulongoti to be mindful of every statement he makes while in office.

"Mulongoti is wearing very large boots hence he can't walk properly. My humble advice to him is to be careful with whatever he says because I’m sure he is aware of the circumstances under which he occupied that office. Somebody had to be fired for him to be there," Sata said.

But when contacted over Sata's statement, Mwamba said Chiluba will soon hold a press briefing to discuss matters that have arisen from the case.

"Dr Chiluba is having a press briefing on Thursday or during the course of this week. We will deal with the issues that have arisen during the briefing. We don't want to pre-empt the briefing," Mwamba said. "So any questions which you the press may have you can raise them in that briefing."

Meanwhile, Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia executive director Bishop Paul Mususu has said he does not hate President Mwanawasa as suggested by Mulongoti.
Bishop Paul Mususu said the fact that he was responding to a question on corruption in the previous and current regime did not entail hatred.

He said there was no sitting Head of State whose activities were public knowledge.

"We can only say so much of what we know of President Mwanawasa. Even with Dr Chiluba, many things were known after he left office. We don't know everything we ought to know," he said.
"We know that President Mwanawasa declared zero tolerance to corruption. What is there on paper? There are vehicles that the MMD was even taken to court over on record. What has happened to the vehicles? People have said surrender them and that is not hatred."

Bishop Mususu said whistle blowers like former lands minister Reverend Gladys Nyirongo got the boot and wondered where the zero tolerance was.

Bishop Mususu said he needed to be shown where the hatred was.
"We have the Chiluba case for example. What we heard in court is different from what President Mwanawasa spelt out in parliament and these are the things I am talking about. I am not displaying any hatred. There are issues in the Auditor General's report on the levels of corruption and it is only fair that we call a spade a spade" he said.

He said those who wanted to keep their jobs should not make people fight unnecessarily.
"I don't hate the President. I am just trying to bring things on board that he may not know about. And I repeat that President Mwanawasa must be given credit for making public pronouncement and setting a precedent," said Bishop Mususu.

Last week, judge Smith established that Chiluba and others had defrauded Zambia of a total of US$41 million through the BK Facility and the Zamtrop account in London.

Judge Smith has ordered Chiluba and others to pay about 85 percent of the total sum (US$41 million) within 14 days upon service of the judgment.

This is a case in which the Attorney General of Zambia took out a civil suit against Chiluba and 19 others who were alleged to have siphoned about US$20 million from the state treasury.

Judge Smith said he was satisfied that Chiluba and former Zambia Security Intelligence Service director general Xavier Chungu were major conspirators and were also in breach of their fiduciary duties.

Those co-accused with Chiluba include Cave Malik and Company, Xavier Francis Chungu (XFC), Attan Shansonga, Stella Chibanda, Aaron Chungu, Bimal Thaker, Faustin Kabwe, Francis Kaunda, Boutique Basile, Nebraska Associates Limited, MISSL Associates Limited, Hearnville Estates, Jarban SA, Raphael Soriano Katoto, Belsquare Residence, NV Roland Cracco and Robert Standaert.

Labels: CHILUBA, LAZ

posted by MrK @ 4:22 PM