Depositors under the controversial Destiny Helpers International (DHI) may start recouping their savings from frozen accounts, according to a joint statement by the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC).
The Commission halted DHI operations in Zambia and froze its bank accounts, following complaints by some members that the company was a fraud. It also demanded for over K1 million cash and other company properties to be forfeited to the state because they are tainted assets.
A May 2022 MakanDay investigation revealed that the company had defrauded more than 74,000 Zambians who were lured into a savings group with the promise of receiving grants worth more than 100% of membership fees.
Last year, the court order directed the Bank to oversee repayments to depositors following an application by the National Prosecution Authority to have the assets that were seized by DEC forfeited to the state.
Among the assets were accounts holding over US$18,700 and close to K1.1 million along with laptops.
The statement said, “the Bank of Zambia has commenced the process of consolidating and validating claims by depositors of Destiny Helpers International (DHI) for purposes of paying back affected depositors”.
It is not clear if everyone will receive their money following the statement which also said recoveries of both physical cash and proceeds from the sale of DHI properties will determine the proportion of the payment that each depositor will receive.
In November last year, government asked depositors to submit information and supporting documentation to district DEC offices countrywide for verification.
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