Zuneth Sattar, a Malawi-born British arms dealer, faces 18 charges of bribery following a long-running investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency into an international corruption scandal involving top-ranking officials and politicians in Malawi. Two of these charges are levelled at Xavier Limited, a company which Mr Sattar is the principal director of.
The NCA launched a corruption and bribery probe into Sattar in March 2020. Their covert investigation was dubbed “Operation Scuttleman”. Following this, Mr Sattar was arrested by the NCA in October 2021.
Mr Sattar is accused of paying bribes of up to $50,000 to numerous public officials between December 2020 and September 2021 with the intention of advancing his business interests in the East African country. Mr Sattar and companies associated with him received lucrative public contracts worth $56 million from the Malawian government for the provision of anti-riot gear, food ration packs, and armoured personnel carriers. Investigators say Sattar and his associates laundered the proceeds in the UK, where the businessman owns scores of properties.
The public officials who allegedly received bribes from Mr Sattar include some of the country’s most senior politicians and officials who were entrusted with decision-making power over public procurement, the police service, the defence force, and even the investigation and enforcement of corruption.
Those named in the charges are the late Vice President of Malawi, Saulos Chilima; the president’s former Chief of Staff, Prince Kapondamgaga; the former Inspector General of Police, George Kainja; a judge and legal academic who also served as chief of legal services for the Malawian Defence Force, Dan Kuwali; the former Director-General of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Reyneck Matembal; the former director of Malawi’s public procurement agency, John Suzi Banda; and police lawyer, Mwabi Kaluba.
These criminal proceedings are ongoing and subject to reporting restrictions, including the strict liability rule. Anyone reporting on the case must be satisfied that they meet those requirements.
