BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-The Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) is under intense pressure for failing to act on suspicious cash withdrawals totalling MK5 billion from the sale of Amaryllis Hotel, a deal now under parliamentary investigation and public scrutiny.
Former FIA Director General Jean Piriminta was dismissed after allegedly leaking CCTV footage of the transactions just two days after receiving it from National Bank of Malawi (NBM). The footage reportedly reveals high-level involvement linked to State House.
It shows Charles Gibson Nankhuni withdrawing K1.5 billion in cash on 23 January and again on 28 January 2026, bringing his total withdrawals to MK3 billion, with the operation allegedly coordinated and support from a former State House official during President Peter Mutharika’s first term regime
The cash was collected at NBM’s Capital City Service Centre after the hotel owner, Shiraz Yusuf, issued and confirmed the cheques used in the withdrawals, and the footage further shows unmarked State House vehicles and more than 15 armed police officers taking instructions from Magalasi during the movements of the money.
The transaction trail begins with the Civil Servants Pension Trust purchasing the hotel at K128 billion, reduced from K132 billion, with an initial K90 billion processed through the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM), which authorised NBM to recover a K26 billion loan while the remaining funds were transferred to Yusuf Investments, which then began settling outstanding debts to business partners, many of whom demanded cash, leading to a series of cheque-based withdrawals between January and early March 2026 before Parliament intervened and suspended activity on the account.
On 23 January, Nankhuni first attempted to withdraw K1.5 billion but was told to return the following day due to the size of the amount, and before releasing the funds NBM verified the cheque with Yusuf and informed FIA in advance, but FIA gave no directive to stop the transaction, allowing the withdrawal to proceed, a pattern that repeated across multiple transactions where the bank followed procedure and the regulator remained silent.
Records show about 25 withdrawals from the Yusuf Investments account between 27 January and 6 March 2026, involving large sums collected by several individuals including repeated high-value withdrawals by Nankhuni, Aisha Aubi, Mark Kaliati and others, with some of the funds later deposited into accounts linked to organisations such as Blantyre Muslim Jamaat, LMJ Hospital and private businesses, while sources indicate that many of those making withdrawals were drivers or staff connected to State House and senior government officials.
As pressure mounted, Piriminta requested CCTV footage from NBM to review the transactions, but she allegedly shared the material with FIA officers and some from the Anti-Corruption Bureau, leading to its leak, and government responded swiftly by removing her from office along with FIA Director of Legal Affairs Collins Chitsime, with sources suggesting the leak exposed powerful individuals and triggered political sensitivity.
Governance experts argue that FIA failed in its core mandate, noting that the agency received Large Currency Transaction Reports and Suspicious Transaction Reports ahead of the withdrawals but failed to act until public scrutiny intensified, while the bank adhered to its legal duty by verifying transactions and notifying the regulator, reinforcing the position that a bank processes customer funds but does not enforce the law.
A valuation expert has also weighed in on the K128 billion price of the hotel, explaining that in 2023 the asset had two separate valuations of K30 billion for the business and K78 billion for the property, and that property values naturally rise over time, especially for prime developments, pointing to similar hotel projects in Blantyre and Lilongwe already exceeding K100 billion in value even before completion, suggesting that while the figure is high it is not necessarily outside market trends.
The scandal now stands as a serious test of institutional accountability, raising hard questions about whether Malawi’s regulatory bodies act in real time to prevent suspicious financial activity or only respond when public pressure becomes overwhelming.