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| National |
| Government gets raw deal on cars |
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by
Mabvuto Banda, 05 December 2003
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14:09:06
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Apex Car Sales sold Malawi Government second hand Land Rovers at US$7.6 million (K826 million) after buying the same vehicles from Mozambique at only US$1.4 million (K152 million), but Director of Public Prosecution Fahad Assani stills thinks there is no case on the matter.
Nation Online found out that Apex did not only walk away with a profit of US$6.2 million (K674 million) from the deal, but was also paid 10 percent interest as per contract agreement for the delay caused by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) restriction notice. In total the company was paid US$10 million (about K1 billion).
Investigations further show that Apex Car Sales issued fake invoices to government by inflating the price at which they bought the vehicles from SETEC AUTO of Mozambique.
Customs and Excise records obtained by the ACB show that SETEC AUTO charged Apex Car Sales US$21,500 for pick-ups and US$22,500 for hard tops duty free.
But, according to the records, the invoices from Apex to Malawi government showed that Apex bought the cars at US$38,000 for pick-ups and US$44,600 for hard tops.
“Apex quoted to government prices for the vehicles when compared with the duty free prices on the one hand and the duty paid price on the other. A comparative analysis showed that Apex made an excess of US$39,200,” the report reads.
SETEC AUTO managing director Gerald James Wigglesworthy in a written statement to the ACB, accessed by Nation Online, said the vehicles were sold to Apex at US$1,446,390 because they are second hand.
He said the cars were first registered in Mozambique in his name and received on April 15, 2000 then sold to the Apex agent in London, Tradex Limited with Automotive Exports Limited being used to pay the money.
Wigglesworthy provided further documentation to the bureau showing that the vehicles were immediately de-registered in Mozambique prior to export to Malawi.
An inspection by the Road Traffic Commission found many mechanical defects on the vehicles indicating they were second hand. The notable ones were loose bolts, oil leakages in both rear and front differential, respraying of the spare rings, use of sealants between bell housing and gearbox denoting that the boxes were rebuilt.
Steve Mwanza Controller of Plant and Vehicle Hire Organisation (PVHO) which led the inspection confirmed this week that an inspection was carried out on the vehicles after the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) asked it to prepare a report .
“This is the report we handed over to ACB when they started investigating the contract,” Mwanza said.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Fahad Assani this week maintained that he is yet to see the PVHO inspection report proving that the cars were indeed second hand.
“I don’t know whether it is a fact, the only thing that I read in the report is that they found that they were some leakages in the differential. I don’t know what report PVHO prepared, I have not seen it, I need such evidence,” he said.
Attorney General and Justice Minister Peter Fachi and colleague Patrick Mbewe were found by the ACB to have committed two offences.
The first one is that the two acted in a conduct conducive or connected to corrupt practices and secondly that they abused their offices contrary to section 10 of the Penal Code.
ACB recommended to the President to take administrative action against the two in 2001 and the DPP to prosecute them for the offences.
To date, nothing has been done.
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