Members of Parliament have asked government to institute an inquiry into reports that billions of Kwachas for investors have been swindled by Alliance Capital Limited.
The call follows a judgment by the High Court delivered last week on Friday directing that the company be liquidated.
Speaking in Parliament, lawmaker for Dedza Central East Joshua Malango said the House needs to probe the matter further as there are aspects of suspected criminal dealings.
“We are talking of billion which Malawians thought they are investing through the pensioner as Alliance Capital Limited but as per court ruling the money isn’t there.
“There are a lot of players which need to be questioned, the ruling also talks about the company lending money without owner’s consent, so I am interested that let this house investigate the matter,” requested Malango.
Responding to call, Minister responsible for Finance Sosten Gwengwe concurred with the lawmakers that there is indeed a need to institute an inquiry into reports.
He said: “What is coming out is that there is a lot that Malawians need to know about Alliance Capital through their representatives here in Parliament to go down to the real issues on where we lost it, this can be answered by Parliament because the House has powers to summon.”
Alliance Capital Limited is an investment and portfolio manager registered under the Financial Services Act of 2010 and is supervised by the Reserve Bank of Malawi. It was registered in May 2005.
Meanwhile, one of lawmakers – Mark Katsonga-Phiri has disclosed that one his companies invested K65 million into Alliance Capital Limited but never got returns.
“It is indeed true that one of my businesses indeed invest some time back with Alliance Capital but when my company wanted the money, the money wasn’t available after investigations, we discovered that a lot of investors were victims,” narrated Katsonga-Phiri.
Alliance Capital Limited was established in 2005, changed its name in 2006 and got suspended two years ago by the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM).
Public institutions like the Malawi Police Service, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra), Lilongwe Water Board (LWB), Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA), Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and Malawi Gaming Board lost their money invested in the firm.
