Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has vowed to continue its mandate on prosecuting and recovery of ill- gotten wealth regardless of the person or entities involved.
Commission Public Relations Manager Timothy Moono says during a media briefing in Lusaka today that the Supreme Court has awarded a number of properties under Tedworth Properties to the state.
Mr. Moono says the commission instituted its investigations in 2002 suspecting corrupt practices in the manner Tedworth Properties acquired mentioned properties in Zambia.
He says the Property Managers managing the estates were unable to disclose the real beneficiaries of the properties and it was suspected that they were unlawfully acquired using public funds disguised as a loan.
He says the properties were therefore seized by the commission.
Mr. Moono further adds that Tedworth properties took the commission to court for seizing the properties and on 30th September 2010, the High Court ruled in favor of Tedworth Properties.
He explains that the Commission appealed the judgment of the High Court to the Supreme Court and on 29th December 2016 the judgment of the High Court was over turned and the properties were effectively and legally forfeited to the state including all the rentals amounting to about Fourteen Million Kwacha.
Mr Moono states that during investigations, the lawyers of Tedworth Properties Incorporated late in Court disclosed that the purported beneficial owner was the late republican President Dr Frederick Chiluba.
He furthermore explains that Dr. Chiluba however did not make any claim to the property when the investigations were on course at the time.
The ACC Public Relations Manager says the current estimated market value of the properties is over Forty Million Kwacha and they have been on rent to various tenants from the time the commission seized them and the rentals have been kept by the commission pending the outcome of the court proceedings.