Businessperson Zameer Karim has said a court already declared him bankrupt and he did not understand the relevance of the Attorney General’s (AG) application to declare him bankrupt.

Karim’s lawyer Frank Mbeta, responding to a questionnaire on his client’s position after AG Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda gave him a notice to pay over K5 billion or risk being dragged to court to be declared bankrupt, wondered what purpose the current application would serve.

“My client is aware about the [AG] notice. But the High Court in Lilongwe already declared him bankrupt some few years ago. So I don’t see how relevant the present bankruptcy application is,” Mbeta said.

Was declared bankrupt: Karim (R)

But the AG said he was not aware that Karim was declared bankrupt, arguing that even if he were aware, he would still pursue this case because people play around with their wealth.

“If that happened, it could be another case. We have mechanisms to follow someone’s wealth and whoever could be in possession of his wealth would face the law. We will not sleep until we get the money that belongs to government,” Nyirenda said.

The AG and Malawi Police Service (MPS) have given Karim notice to pay the money to government within seven days or risk being dragged to court to be declared bankrupt.

This is in connection with the famous police food rations case.

In the notice published in The Nation newspaper yesterday, the AG has warned the businessperson, who trades as Pioneer Investments, that he would proceed to file for bankruptcy should he fail to settle the claim or show no interest to file a counter claim within seven days.

Karim alongside senior police officers, including one who died while the matter was in court, are accused of allegedly scheming to defraud Malawi Police Service about K7 billion in the food rations 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 November 13 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.

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

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