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| HSBC Bank in Switzerland |
By Paul Shalala
Zambia’s Financial Intelligence Center (FIC) has launched
investigations to ascertain how US$48.3 million which is linked to Zambians
found itself in HSBC Bank in Switzerland.
FIC Chief Executive Officer Mary Sikazwe says her
institution has launched investigations into the 69 bank accounts whose owners
are said to have links with Zambia.
“That issue is of concern to us as Ministry of Finance. We
have launched investigations to find out how that money ended up in
Switzerland,” said Ms Sikazwe.
She added that her agency is liaising with other agencies
abroad to ensure they find out how the money with Zambian links was banked in
Switzerland, a European country which is famous for its tax haven status.
“We want to find out if any illegal activities were done. If
there was illegality, then the law will take its course,” said Sikazwe in
response to a question from a journalist during a meeting in Lusaka for the dissemination of findings on
illicit financial flows in Africa.
The 69 account holders who banked the US$48.3 million (K314
million) are part of 100,000 clients of HSBC in Switzerland who were recently
exposed by a former IT employee who hacked into the bank’s system and stole
60,000 files before fleeing to France.
The US-based International Consortium of Investigative
Journalists (ICIJ) summerised the details and and published an interactive map
on their website.
According to ICIJ, 13 of the account holders hold Zambian
passports and are part of a wider expose which has been dubbed “Swiss Leaks” by
the international media.
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