Real estates promoting corruption, money laundering in Malawi- FIA

Malawi: The Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) has accused the real estate sector of promoting corruption and money laundering in the country.

During a stakeholder meeting in Lilongwe on Wednesday, Director General Jean Priminta stated that corrupt criminals launder their ill-gotten money through real estate by purchasing properties such as land and houses without the oversight of both the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA).

According to Piriminta, when purchasing property, corruptors use third parties, most of whom are family members.

She also stated that using unlicensed and unregulated real estate is common in order to avoid the reporting thresholds.

The 2019 mutual evaluation report shows that only 52 of the country's 258 real estate agents are licenced, with the rest having transactions that are difficult to trace.

According to the 2018 National Risks Assessment (NRA) report, over USD 18,711,123.99 million entered the real estate market, with only USD2,723,992 confiscated and USD384,501 frozen.

Dr Lucky Kabanga, Chairperson of the Real Estate Taskforce, blamed the influx of briefcase estate agents on government regulating agents, claiming that they do not communicate with one another when it comes to regulating the sector.

He has since urged the land economy body to reconsider revising the law to allow only SIM on regulation in order to avoid conflicting laws in which one body allows what another prohibits.

Deputy Minister Deus Sandram promised a bill proposal to have a law that can control dirty money transactions through real estate.