Utakatishaji mwingine wa fedha huu, benki hizi tatu ni lazima BOT wawapige faini.
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In Summary
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) reportedly investigated the suspicious transactions after bankers detected an unusual movement of funds from several accounts operated by the company in Dar es Salaam.
Dar es Salaam. Alarm on suspicious transactions involving Lugumi Enterprises, the company at the centre of corruption investigations involving a Sh37 billion forensic contract, was raised in 2014, The Citizen can report.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) reportedly investigated the suspicious transactions after bankers detected an unusual movement of funds from several accounts operated by the company in Dar es Salaam.
Investigations by The Citizen revealed that a city bank (name withheld) had suspected the multibillion transactions and reported to the FIU on the abnormal payments to the firm and the manner in which the funds were also withdrawn.
The then Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Said Mwema, authorised the payments to Lugumi Enterprises who had entered into a contract with the police force to install 108 finger print machines in all district offices across the country for the huge sum.
Reports gathered by The Citizen shows that the FIU immediately upon receiving the reports on the suspicious transactions, analysed them and raised the alarm over what was seen as doubtful transactions.
The FIU, established under the Ministry of Finance to help detect money laundering activities, forwarded its intelligence findings in a package to the police and the Prevention of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) for further action in 2014.
Lugumi Enterprises which won the job in 2011 has in recent weeks grabbed headlines over the revelations on how the contract was implemented. It has now been claimed that the company only installed 14 machines at a staggering Sh49 billion outside the main agreement.
New details obtained by The Citizen shows that Lugumi Enterprises maintained three different accounts with Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of Africa (BoA) and Azania bank. Strangely, billions of shillings that were deposited in the three bank accounts were hastily being withdrawn in cash by the Lugumi propriator.
According to our sources in government, police and the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) were all well aware of the intelligence reports on Lugumi transactions right from the beginning. Why they failed to act is among questions that the Parliament Accounts Committee (PAC) wants to unravel in an inquiry that has however not taken off. Highly placed sources intimated that some arms of the state were deeply frustrated with the way investigations into the matter were handled.
Asked on the role the agency played on the matter, FIU Commissioner Onesmo Makombe neither admitted nor denied the reports, but was categorical that the department was closely working with other agencies to establish the truth.
“Absolutely, we are assisting the PCCB and other organs on the matter It is our legal obligation to assist them with intelligence we receive or gather,” said Mr Makomba.
Pressed more on the role of his unit in the ongoing Lugumi saga, Mr Makomba admitted his unit probed the transactions in 2014. “We have always been working behind the scenes on many other issues. Prosecution of some of the high profile corruption cases were largely made possible by our intelligence work,” he said. The controversy on the Lugumi tender and subsequent payments is one of the issues that are expected to dominate the parliamentary session that started in Dodoma yesterday, with the PAC leadership insisting it will push the matter to the floor of the House for debate.
PAC initially took up the issue and demanded to be furnished with a report on the performance of the contract between the police and the private company but the police has shown unwillingness to produce it.
The Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Home Affairs, Major General Project Rwegasira, the Inspector General of Police, Ernest Mangu and other high-ranking police officers have been under pressure to produce the report and other documents pertaining the contract for interrogation by the committee.
Speaking from Dodoma on Monday, Vice Chairman of the committee Aeshy Hilal insisted that MPs must scrutinise the contract following various reports that have linked it to high level corruption.
According to the 2013/14 audited report of the Controller and Auditor General (CAG), the police force paid the amount despite the fact that the contractor failed to implement the project.
Some reports say owners of the embattled company are highly connected to top government officials and politicians who are working round to frustrate investigation and shield them from prosecution.
The police have however denied any liability on the controversial deal, with IGP Mangu being quoted by various media as saying the machines had been installed.
Efforts yesterday to reach PCCB or Mr Mangu for comment on the new revelation were futile. PCCB has however been reported in recent weeks as confirming that the agency was investigating the Lugumi contract.
Source: The Citizen
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In Summary
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) reportedly investigated the suspicious transactions after bankers detected an unusual movement of funds from several accounts operated by the company in Dar es Salaam.
Dar es Salaam. Alarm on suspicious transactions involving Lugumi Enterprises, the company at the centre of corruption investigations involving a Sh37 billion forensic contract, was raised in 2014, The Citizen can report.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) reportedly investigated the suspicious transactions after bankers detected an unusual movement of funds from several accounts operated by the company in Dar es Salaam.
Investigations by The Citizen revealed that a city bank (name withheld) had suspected the multibillion transactions and reported to the FIU on the abnormal payments to the firm and the manner in which the funds were also withdrawn.
The then Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Said Mwema, authorised the payments to Lugumi Enterprises who had entered into a contract with the police force to install 108 finger print machines in all district offices across the country for the huge sum.
Reports gathered by The Citizen shows that the FIU immediately upon receiving the reports on the suspicious transactions, analysed them and raised the alarm over what was seen as doubtful transactions.
The FIU, established under the Ministry of Finance to help detect money laundering activities, forwarded its intelligence findings in a package to the police and the Prevention of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) for further action in 2014.
Lugumi Enterprises which won the job in 2011 has in recent weeks grabbed headlines over the revelations on how the contract was implemented. It has now been claimed that the company only installed 14 machines at a staggering Sh49 billion outside the main agreement.
New details obtained by The Citizen shows that Lugumi Enterprises maintained three different accounts with Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of Africa (BoA) and Azania bank. Strangely, billions of shillings that were deposited in the three bank accounts were hastily being withdrawn in cash by the Lugumi propriator.
According to our sources in government, police and the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) were all well aware of the intelligence reports on Lugumi transactions right from the beginning. Why they failed to act is among questions that the Parliament Accounts Committee (PAC) wants to unravel in an inquiry that has however not taken off. Highly placed sources intimated that some arms of the state were deeply frustrated with the way investigations into the matter were handled.
Asked on the role the agency played on the matter, FIU Commissioner Onesmo Makombe neither admitted nor denied the reports, but was categorical that the department was closely working with other agencies to establish the truth.
“Absolutely, we are assisting the PCCB and other organs on the matter It is our legal obligation to assist them with intelligence we receive or gather,” said Mr Makomba.
Pressed more on the role of his unit in the ongoing Lugumi saga, Mr Makomba admitted his unit probed the transactions in 2014. “We have always been working behind the scenes on many other issues. Prosecution of some of the high profile corruption cases were largely made possible by our intelligence work,” he said. The controversy on the Lugumi tender and subsequent payments is one of the issues that are expected to dominate the parliamentary session that started in Dodoma yesterday, with the PAC leadership insisting it will push the matter to the floor of the House for debate.
PAC initially took up the issue and demanded to be furnished with a report on the performance of the contract between the police and the private company but the police has shown unwillingness to produce it.
The Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Home Affairs, Major General Project Rwegasira, the Inspector General of Police, Ernest Mangu and other high-ranking police officers have been under pressure to produce the report and other documents pertaining the contract for interrogation by the committee.
Speaking from Dodoma on Monday, Vice Chairman of the committee Aeshy Hilal insisted that MPs must scrutinise the contract following various reports that have linked it to high level corruption.
According to the 2013/14 audited report of the Controller and Auditor General (CAG), the police force paid the amount despite the fact that the contractor failed to implement the project.
Some reports say owners of the embattled company are highly connected to top government officials and politicians who are working round to frustrate investigation and shield them from prosecution.
The police have however denied any liability on the controversial deal, with IGP Mangu being quoted by various media as saying the machines had been installed.
Efforts yesterday to reach PCCB or Mr Mangu for comment on the new revelation were futile. PCCB has however been reported in recent weeks as confirming that the agency was investigating the Lugumi contract.
Source: The Citizen
