A MAN who realigned his vocal chords to sound like Chief Justice Dr Mumba Malila, before calling two permanent secretaries asking for a financial bailout, has been arrested by police in Lusaka.
Emmanuel Sichinga, aged 42, after leaving prison for personation has provided living proof of the old adage, “old habits die hard”.
No sooner had Sichinga left prison than he continued his criminal activities from where he left from and he chose permanent secretaries
Green Mbozi (agriculture) as well as transport and logistics Fredrick Mwalusaka as his victims.
Early last month, Sichinga called the two gentlemen at different times, introduced himself as Justice Malila and that he had lost his elder brother and like Zambia seeking an International Monetary Fund bailout, he too needed some financial assistance to take care of funeral costs.
Sympathetic to the loss of the judiciary boss’ loss, it is reported that one permanent secretary even brokedown while speaking to Sichinga but quickly recomposed himself and dried his tears when the supposed chief justice said he could receive a bailout through AirtelMobile Money.
Suspicious, the two gentlemen reported the wannabe chief justice to the police and upon investigation, officers discovered that it was in fact Sichinga who had called the two permanent secretaries.
Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga confirmed the arrest of the fake chief justice.
Hamoonga said cell Phone, three sim cards and a telephone directory used in the commission of the offence were recovered from the Sichinga who is currently detained in custody awaiting to meet real court judge.
“We would like to warn all unscrupulous persons committing crimes using computer systems or the cyber space that Zambia Police Service working with Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority have the capacity to locate them,” Hamoonga warned.
