Former Zambian President Edgar Lungu’s son, Dalisto Lungu, has lost property valued at over $1.262M, which the State will now own.
The EFCC established that Mr Lungu had no perceptible income or business activities that would be subject to tax to prove that he was making income commiserate with the tainted.
In this case, Director of Public Prosecutions Gilbert Phiri filed a non-conviction-based forfeiture lawsuit, urging the court to allow the forfeiture of Mr Lungu’s tainted properties.
Mr Lungu was the first interested party, while Solaid Traders Limited, where Mr Lungu is a director, was the second interested party.
To defend himself, Mr Lungu claimed that all his properties were genuinely acquired and that some of the assets were also gifted to him by his father.
But the court ruled that Mr Lungu failed to proffer sufficient evidence to support his assertion that his father financed the properties.
“…Mr Lungu has failed to proffer further and solid evidence to substantiate his claims that Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, and indeed his parents, were the source of the funds used to purchase the impugned properties”.
The court also found that financial capacity during the period of investigations revealed that Mr Lungu had no significant work experience.
“It was submitted that Mr Lungu began working in 2012 and worked for two organizations, being Varun Beverages Zambia Limited and Zambia Revenue Authority, and worked a total of 36 months and three weeks and earned a total of K137,803.25,” the judges ruled.
Furthermore, the court also found that investigations into Mr Lungu’s financial capacity revealed non-compliance with tax returns tothe Zambia Revenue Authority and had not submitted returns from 2017 to 2023.
It was further established that the funds used to acquire the properties were reasonably suspected to have been obtained through illicit or unlawful activities such as tax evasion and money laundering.
“It is therefore our considered view that, based on the evidence tendered by the applicant establishing that on a balance of probability, the properties cited in the originating Notice of Motion are tainted property and proceeds of crime….
“Based on the foregoing findings, we are of the view that the Director of Public Prosecutions has successfully made out its case for Non-Conviction Based Forfeiture of tainted property.”
