Chief Resident Magistrate Court in LIlongwe has charged three Paramount Holdings Limited Directors with three counts in a case which the three are accused of using a fake Yamaha dealer certificate to acquire both public and private contracts in the country.
The directors; Prakash Virgi Ghedia, Arvindkumar Patel and Suresh Khimji Jagatiya were arrested by fiscal police in 2021.
It is alleged that the directors used a fake dealer certificate purportedly from Yamaha motorcycles limited to win multimillion tenders from government and private sectors.
The court documents which we have seen, indicates that the three directors and Paramount holdings limited as a private company will be facing the three charges in relation to the said fake certificate.
First charge reads, “Conspiracy to commit a felony contrary to section 404 of the penal code and particulars are that, the accused persons on or about August 2020 being director of paramount holdings limited in Malawi and the company itself conspired to make a false document and utter a force document showing that paramount holdings is an authorized dealer of Yamaha motorcycles in Malawi.”
In the second count, the three directors including the company are accused of making a force document contrary to section 353 of the penal code and particulars are that they made force document indicating they were authorized dealers acting on behalf of Yamaha when that wasn’t true.
“Uttering force documents contrary to section 360 of the penal code, and particulars states that the accused persons on or about August 2020 being directors of paramount holdings limited in Malawi and the company itself uttered a force documents to ministry of education, local government, health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, UNC project and Jphiego to win tenders for the supply of motorcycles showing that paramount holdings is an authorized dealer of Yamaha motorcycles in Malawi on behalf of Yamaha motorcycles limited company limited of Japan,” reads the third count.
The court summons we have also seen, indicates that the accused persons have been summoned to appear before the court on Friday this week to answer to the charges.
“Your presence is necessary to answer to the charges attached and set out,” reads the summon in part.
But one of the Paramount holdings directors Prakash Virgi Ghedia has said that they are yet to be served with the court summons.
“We have not yet received that copy from the court. When I get it, I will have to read it and understand the charges then we can talk,” Ghedia said.
Last year, the Paramount holdings limited was suspended from participating in public procurement but the suspension was later lifted in September 2022 paving way for the firm to participate in any procurement.
But the Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda indicated that although the suspension was lifted, investigations that led to the suspension are still ongoing adding that the results of the probe would lead to a debarment hearing.
In a letter dated January 27 2023, Ref. No. MJCA/AG/014 addressed to Deputy Ambassador at the Malawi Embassy in Tokyo, Joseph Chikwemba, titled ‘Status of Paramount Holdings Limited in Malawi’, the AG stated that: “I have been informed that the case is ready for trial. A guilty finding against Paramount Holdings Limited may also affect Paramount Holdings Limited eligibility to participate in public procurement.”
In 2020 Paramount holdings limited also came into the limelight following cancellation of the award of contracts to the company by government after the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) was reported to be probing Paramount Holdings Limited over a Ministry of Health K4 billion ambulance contract it was awarded in 2019.