Businessperson Zameer Karim risks bankruptcy proceedings over a K5 billion claim in connection with the Malawi Police Service food rations deal, court documents show.

In a notice we have seen, Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda has warned the businessperson, who trades as Pioneer Investments, that he would proceed to file for bankruptcy proceedings within seven days should he fail to settle the claim or show no interest to file a counter claim.

Attorney general
Faults judiciary

Karim alongside senior police officers, including one who died while the matter was in court, are accused of allegedly scheming to defraud Malawi Police about K7 billion in the contract.

He is also being accused in another case of forging police documents to obtain a K150 million loan from Ecobank Malawi.

In the notice, the AG advises Karim that within seven days after service of the notice, he should pay K2.3 billion as indemnity claimed by his office and police.

“[This is an amount] as being the amount due and owing under a judgement dated 13th November 2020 obtained by the judgement creditor against you in the court and the sum of K3.8 billion representing interest,” reads the notice in part.

The AG says the execution of the judgement was not put aside.

Nyirenda warned that the consequences of not complying with the requisitions of the notice are that he will have committed an act of bankruptcy on which bankruptcy proceedings may be taken against him.

Counter claim or application to set the notice aside, the AG advised, should be filed to the court within 14 days.

The notice was filed on March 11 2022 before Judge Annabel Mtalimanja of the High Court of Malawi Commercial Division in Lilongwe.

Karim’s lawyers were yet to respond to our questionnaire on their position on the notice as we went to press around 9pm yesterday.

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