The High Court has said the K20.9 billion bankgate case, which saw four of the country’s banks allegedly being defrauded, will not be restarted but will continue from where it stopped.
This follows the change of judges in the case, which was initially being heard by Justice Sylvester Kalembera, who was promoted to the Supreme Court in June 2022.
The case has been assigned to High Court Judge Anneline Kanthambi.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the case came before court on Wednesday, when Kanthambi ordered that the matter should start from where it stopped.
The case dates back to 2017, when four commercial banks in the country were allegedly defrauded of at least K20.9 billion through loans obtained by a Pakistan national Abdul Rehman Abdulla, one of the directors at Cotton Ginners Africa Limited.
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The alleged fraud hit Standard Bank plc, Ecobank Malawi, National Bank of Malawi plc (NBM), CDH Investment Bank (CDHIB) as well as Export Development Fund (EDF).
The major victim of the alleged fraud is Standard Bank Limited, which is owed about K8.6 billion, followed by EDF (K4.1 billion), Ecobank Malawi Limited (K3.5 billion), CDHIB (K4.5 billion) and NBM (K250 million).
Nine accused persons are facing charges that range from fraud to forgery and the matter is being prosecuted by State lawyers from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
Other accused persons are Mahomed Farook Ibrahim, Rizwana Abdul Rehman, Zarina Mahomed Faruk, Abdul Kader Patel, Mahomed Faizal Patel, Spencer Zinyemba, William Kumwenda and Wyson Tumba.
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Kanthambi said the next dates of hearing for continuation of trial would be communicated by the court to the parties.
Rehman Abdulla was one of the directors at Cotton Ginners Africa Limited before he allegedly left for Pakistan with his family.
After Rehman Abdulla’s departure, Cotton Ginners Africa Limited filed for bankruptcy at the High Court Commercial Division in Blantyre, but the affected commercial banks challenged the move.
Rehman Abdulla reportedly obtained the loans using property of Cotton Ginners Africa Limited as security.
