Chief resident magistrate Madalitso Chimwaza softened bail conditions for former chairperson for Salima Sugar Company, Sherieesh Betgiri, who is accused of tax evasion and money laundering.
Monday morning, Chimwaza granted bail to the accused on condition that he pays K100 million bond, surrender his 51 percent stake in Salima sugar along with his travel documents.
The court has also ordered that he should also have two sureties that should pay K50 million each and deposit half of the money to the court.
However, his lawyer Wapona Kita asked the court to softened up the conditions saying Betgiri can only manage to pay K10 million.
Later in the afternoon, Chimwaza reduced the bond to K20 million.
Betgiri has been charged with four counts including fraud; obtaining execution of a security by false pretences and money laundering among others.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
He is also being suspected to have opened another company in Dubai named Salima Sugar Company, where using assets and property of the company in Malawi, he obtained a $300 million loan.
Salima Sugar Company is a joint venture (JV) in which the claimant and the two defendants hold a60 percent shares and government through the Greenbelt Authority holds the other 40 percent stake. percent stake.
In 2015, government incorporated the Greenbelt Initiative Holdings Limited. GBI is thus a wholly State owned enterprise. The purpose of the company is to undertake commercial irrigation investments.
The Secretary to Treasury held 99 percent shares and Secretary to President and Cabinet held 1 percent shares in GBI Holdings Ltd. Around the year 2022, the shares in GBI Holdings Limited were transferred to GBA.
GBA was established in 2017 under the Greenbelt Authority Act, 2017.
