By Rahim Abdul
The Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court has ordered the removal of a restriction that had been placed on the owners of Amaryllis Hotel in Blantyre, which operates under Yusuf Investments Limited.
The ruling means that the company can now access and use funds that had previously been frozen following a court order obtained by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
The ACB had initially sought the restriction as part of investigations into the sale of the hotel and its transactions with the Public Service Pension Trust Fund (PSPTF).
According to presiding magistrate Shukuran Kumbani, the ACB failed to provide convincing reasons when it returned to court seeking an extension of the freezing order for several more months.
The anti-graft body had requested the freezing of the hotel’s bank accounts after launching investigations into the deal involving the hotel and the pension fund.
Investigators alleged that Yusuf Investments withdrew K5.386 billion from the accounts while investigations were still underway.
The ACB further claimed that part of the money was allegedly passed on to some officials from the Public Service Pension Trust Fund to facilitate the speedy completion of the hotel transaction.
However, during the proceedings, the court found that the bureau had not presented sufficient evidence proving that Yusuf Investments had engaged in fraudulent activities.
Magistrate Kumbani ruled that the reasons advanced by the ACB were not strong enough to justify extending the freeze on the company’s funds, leading to the lifting of the restriction.
The decision marks a significant development in the case, as Yusuf Investments Limited regains access to its finances while investigations and other legal processes related to the matter continue.
