Lusaka – Zambian authorities on Friday slapped new charges on the liquidator of a major copper mine, accusing him of more theft worth nearly $1 million.
“The Drug Enforcement Commission through its anti-money laundering investigations unit has arrested the KCM provisional liquidator Milingo Lungu for theft involving 17 250 000 kwacha (around $967 000),” spokesperson Mathias Kamanga said in a statement.
Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), co-owned by London-listed Vedanta and Zambia’s state mining arm, is one of Africa’s largest copper producers.
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Lungu was previously accused of diverting millions of dollars from the mine’s liquidation, investing it, and pocketing the gains. The principal was returned back to the mine.
The DEC said it has seized about $9.8 million in connection with the transactions.
Lungu was released on bail.
KCM has been caught in a two-year tug-of-war between Vedanta and Zambia, which in 2019 placed KCM in liquidation for allegedly failing to pay taxes.
Zambia’s former government handed KCM over for liquidation in May 2019, sparking a legal dispute with Vedanta, the majority shareholder.
President Hakainde Hichilema, elected in August, has criticised his predecessor’s nationalist mining policy and vowed to woo foreign investors back to Africa’s second-largest copper producer after the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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