The Zambian government has seized several apartments in Belgium valued at over $1-million, allegedly believed to have been bought by former president Frederick Chiluba with stolen state money, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Chiluba is currently facing trial for 65 counts of theft from the state, after his hand-picked successor, President Levy Mwanawasa, targeted him in a crackdown on corruption in this poor southern African country.
A task force investigating theft of public funds in Zambia uncovered the possible illegal tie between the property and Chiluba in the course of their investigations into the former president’s conduct while in office, the Zambia Daily Mail reported.
The task force is also investigating London bank accounts linked to Chiluba, task force executive chairperson Mark Chona said.
Chona would not divulge the total number of apartments seized in Belgium, but he said they would soon be sold. The money raised from their sale would be invested in social recovery programmes inside Zambia, he said.
Other properties suspected of being bought from plundered government funds have been identified in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Panama and the Bahamas, officials said.
The 65 counts of theft currently facing Chiluba, include that of 15 billion kwacha ($3-million) in cash plundered from the Zambia National Commercial Bank in Lusaka.
Last week police said they had information that may implicate the former president and several others in an even more serious case –the disappearance of more than $32-million of government money.
Chiluba left office in 2001 after ten years in office. – Sapa-AP