A 38 year-old Malawian businessman of Indian Origin has been arrested for attempting to externalize forex.
The suspect, identified as Iqbar Sodagar Moinuddian Mohmad, was arrested at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA)in Lilongwe where he was found with 622,820 USA dollars, 2 015 British Pounds and 15,860 Euros (about MK540 million) on Friday last week.
He was arrested at the departures Lounge before boading an Aircraft to Dubai through Ethiopian Airways. He had refused to have his bag go through the X-ray machine or to be physically searched by the Police Officers manning the checkpoint.
As a result, the Police Officers on duty became suspicious and conducted a thorough search and consequently found the forex in the bag.
The law enforcers also found 15 breaks of Gold weighing 14 Kgs and was concealed in the bag.
Mohmad admitted to have accumulated the forex from black market without supporting documents. He also claimed to have bought the 15 breaks of gold from unidentified Nigerian in Likongwe.
He is expected to appear before court soon to answer three counts namely : Illegal possession of foreign currency, Attempting to externalise forex and Money Laundering.
