The recent revelation made by the FIC (Financial Intelligence Centre) has certainly brought back the dark phase of the Zambian corruption history. What is more shocking is the reach of this corruption to high-level ranking officials, governmental employees and even ministers. The FIC recently uploaded a list of people caught in an ongoing investigation on mass money laundering activities. The major shock point of this list was that it was filled by prominent lawyers. These lawyers were found to be working for the government officials, big law firms and even for ministers. The list also contains the name of Sakwiba Sikota, the lawyer for the Ventriglias.

The FIC started their inquiry after unearthing suspicious cash transactions of large amounts which were linked to various corporate as well as individual bank accounts. The suspicion grew more when the number of cash transactions crossed the USD one billion mark. It found that the illicit money was spending across share trading of commodities such as maize, barley etc. As a result, when this money came back into the bank accounts they looked clean. As a result, the FIC and other legal departments intensified their investigations across these illicit activities. The list, which contains the names of lawyers and other people found suspicious of illegal activities, is topped by Masozi M. Banda, a legal counselor from Avik International. He is suspected of laundering money to infamous Zambian Dictator, Edgar Lungu.

Another name that came on this list is of Sakwiba Sikota, the official lawyer of the Ventriglias. He is the owner of Central Chambers, a law firm which has been caught in suspicious activities. It can be said that the name of Sikota was expected as he has been found suspicious of various other illegal activities in Zambia along with the Ventriglias. The FIC has intensified its investigations and will be publishing news as and when any new update emerges.