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Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Gilbert Phiri, has applied to the Economic and Financial Crimes Court for a non-conviction-based forfeiture of 76 Mopani Coleosperma logs, an Actros truck, and trailers, describing them as tainted properties suspected to be proceeds of crime.
However, Congolese businessman Ngoy Wa Monga, owner of South Africa-based Ngomac Trading, has opposed the application, claiming ownership of the vehicles.
He argued that the trucks and trailers were merely hired for transportation purposes and were not proceeds of crime.
According to an affidavit filed by Benjamin Wishikoti, a senior investigations officer at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, a report was received around 22:00 hours on August 20, 2024, about a suspicious truck parked at Wilu Truck Park along the Lusaka-Chirundu Road.
Following the report, a team of officers inspected the truck and found 76 Mopani logs loaded onto it.
The individuals in possession of the logs, Phinias Maano and Mary Pumulo Mowana, failed to produce documentation authorizing possession or transportation of the forest produce.
Wishikoti stated that investigations revealed that Maano, the driver, had loaded the logs from Lusaka’s Chinika Industrial Area.
On August 29, 2024, the logs, the truck, and the trailers were seized on suspicion that they were connected to criminal activity.
Subsequently, on August 30, 2024, Maano pleaded guilty before the Siavonga Subordinate Court to charges of illegal possession of forest produce under Section 89, and conveyance of forest produce under Section 53(1), of the Forest Act No. 4 of 2015.
He was convicted.
Wishikoti argued that possession of the logs violated Section 71 of the Forfeiture of Proceeds of Crime Act.
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In response, Monga, in an affidavit opposing the application, maintained that the trucks and trailers were not proceeds of crime and that his company, Ngomac Trading, was an innocent third party.
He contended that since the case against Maano had already been concluded in the Siavonga Subordinate Court, the current forfeiture application was irregular and improperly before the Economic and Financial Crimes Court.
“The accused, who is also my driver, only informed me of the incident after his arrest; I had no knowledge that the vehicles were being used to commit any offence,” Monga stated.
He added that Ngomac Trading had filed an application for restitution before the Siavonga Subordinate Court on January 15, 2025, seeking the return of the vehicles.
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