BY BLAIR MHONE
A police investigator in the Collins Magalasi, Dorothy ‘Cash Madam’ Shonga fraud and money laundering case has today revealed details of the illicit transactions that saw the former Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority chief executive officer defrauding the regulatory body of money amounting to K186,539,425.
The investigator, Ephraim Phiri, told the Chief Resident’s Magistrates Court in Lilongwe that Vink Enterprises which is co-owned by Magalasi and Dorothy Shonga started supplying goods to MERA before being registered with the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority.
Phiri who is the state’s last witness in the case, informed the court that although on paper the company appears to be owned by Shonga and Viecca Paul, but documents at the Registrar of Companies show that the firm is owned by Magalasi and Shonga with each partner having 50 percent shares.
He also revealed that Dorothy Shonga used a fake Turkish passport to open a Vink Enterprise account at CDH Bank saying the passport had the name Viecca Paul while at the bottom it had the name Paksul Murati.
Other vivid details revealed by Phiri were that Shonga once received a K40 million kwacha cheque from Mera as being payment of cloth and long and short sleeve shirts, which she took it to National Bank where she was given another bank certified cheque which she deposited at Vink Enterprise account at CDH.
According to Phiri, on April 8 2020, she reportedly transferred K30 million to her account at Standard Bank as well as transferring cash amounting to K6 million to Collins Magalasi account.
On the same day investigations also revealed withdrew K13 million and deposited K11 million in Collins Magalasi account at National Bank.
