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- Feb 11, 2007
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EPA scam: Jeetu Patel in Dar for questioning
By Mkinga Mkinga
THE CITIZEN
Mr Jeetu Patel, one of the alleged key players in the Central Bank's External Payments Arrears (EPA) account scandal that cost the country Sh133 billion, is back in the country for interrogation, The Citizen has learnt.
Mr Patel, who has been abroad for about two months, was summoned to appear before a special investigation team appointed by President Jakaya Kikwete after he received the EPA report following an audit by Ernst and Young. Mr Patel was asked to return from the United Kingdom.
Attorney-General Johnson Mwanyika, who chairs the special team, told The Citizen that Mr Patel is expected to appear before the panel tomorrow.
When called yesterday on his mobile phone, Mr Patel, who is in Dar es Salaam, declined to comment on the issue before the line went dead. However, he later called The Citizen newsroom using his mobile phone but when he was asked to explain any role he may have played in the EPA deal, Mr Patel again declined to speak about it.
In early January, President Kikwete directed Attorney-General Mwanyika, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Saidi Mwema, and the director-general of Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Mr Edward Hosea, to thoroughly investigate those named in the Ernst & Young EPA report.
President Kikwete directed the Mwanyika team to investigate all the companies and individuals who were involved in the scandal. The team has also been charged with recovering the stolen funds and assets acquired with the cash.
Yesterday, the visiting International Monetary Fund executive director, Mr Ambrose Fayolle, lauded the EPA report.
The IMF official said in Dar es Salaam that the crackdown on those implicated in the fraudulent payments from the BoT had helped restore the Fund's confidence in the Kikwete administration.
On Tuesday, Mr Mwanyika said his team had so far identified about 75 per cent or Sh99.75 billion of the stolen money.
The Citizen has established that Mr Patel is involved in nine out of the 13 companies that reportedly received about Sh90.3 billion through EPA, using forged or false documents.
The companies are Navycut Tobacco (T) Ltd, Ndovu Soaps Ltd, Bina Resorts Ltd, Bencon International Ltd, Maltan Mining Company Ltd, Bora Hotels and Apartments Ltd, Venus Hotels Ltd, and BV Holdings Ltd.
Sources within the EPA investigation team told The Citizen that Mr Patel was forced to return to the country last week in order to answer various allegations over the multi-billion scandal that rocked the country in 2005/6.
Earlier, a member of the investigation team, who sought anonymity, had told The Citizen: The information I have is that Jeetu Patel is going to be interrogated this week, either Thursday or Friday, it will depend on the committee's schedule.
The Government has ordered all the concerned security organs to ensure that Mr Patel does not leave the country all measures have already been taken to ensure that he is not leaving, he said.
According to information made available to The Citizen, Mr Patel was allegedly the main supplier of vehicles to CCM during the 2005 General Election. A total of 123 vehicles worth Sh984 million are said to have been given to the ruling party for use during the election campaigns.
The vehicles, each costing Sh8 million, were allegedly distributed to the party's offices in every district.
However it wasn't clear whether the vehicles were supplied to the ruling party as a donation or sold outright.
Reached for comment, the ruling party's publicity secretary, Captain (Rtd) John Chiligati, said: I wasn't at the party�s headquarters during that time, therefore, it's difficult for me to speak about those transactions.
We received vehicles but under what circumstances is something beyond my knowledge, Mr Chiligati told The Citizen by telephone.
But CCM secretary-general Yusuf Makamba said: We didn't receive any grants or donation of vehicles from anybody we bought the vehicles.
According to a special audit conducted by Ernst and Young, a total of 22 companies were involved in the theft of Sh133 billion in 2005/6.
Of those involved, 13 companies got Sh90, 359,078,804 using forged documents, and while another nine unregistered companies were irregularly paid Sh42 billion.
Yesterday, the IMF mission currently visiting Tanzania said they were satisfied with the way the Government was handling the EPA fraud.
IMF executive director Fayolle, leading the Fund�s mission said: We are very comforted by the efforts of the Government of Tanzania on the EPA account and we commend the action plan put forward by the government on how to deal with the situation but we hope the process would be speeded up.
Finance and Economic Affairs minister Mustapha Mkullo said he was not in a position to say how much money has been returned by the culprits so far.
If you give me two weeks, I will be able to tell you how much has been recovered. The most important thing now is that the IMF is satisfied by our efforts, Mr Mkullo told journalists.
Apart from the Mwanyika led-task force, an action plan announced by the Government to deal with the EPA fraud, includes improving internal controls within the ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and the BoT, to enhance accountability.
In addition, the Bank's newly appointed board of directors has been instructed to take disciplinary action against staff found to have been involved in the malpractice.
By Mkinga Mkinga
Mr Jeetu Patel, one of the alleged key players in the Central Bank's External Payments Arrears (EPA) account scandal that cost the country Sh133 billion, is back in the country for interrogation, The Citizen has learnt.
Mr Patel, who has been abroad for about two months, was summoned to appear before a special investigation team appointed by President Jakaya Kikwete after he received the EPA report following an audit by Ernst and Young. Mr Patel was asked to return from the United Kingdom.
Attorney-General Johnson Mwanyika, who chairs the special team, told The Citizen that Mr Patel is expected to appear before the panel tomorrow.
When called yesterday on his mobile phone, Mr Patel, who is in Dar es Salaam, declined to comment on the issue before the line went dead. However, he later called The Citizen newsroom using his mobile phone but when he was asked to explain any role he may have played in the EPA deal, Mr Patel again declined to speak about it.
In early January, President Kikwete directed Attorney-General Mwanyika, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Saidi Mwema, and the director-general of Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Mr Edward Hosea, to thoroughly investigate those named in the Ernst & Young EPA report.
President Kikwete directed the Mwanyika team to investigate all the companies and individuals who were involved in the scandal. The team has also been charged with recovering the stolen funds and assets acquired with the cash.
Yesterday, the visiting International Monetary Fund executive director, Mr Ambrose Fayolle, lauded the EPA report.
The IMF official said in Dar es Salaam that the crackdown on those implicated in the fraudulent payments from the BoT had helped restore the Fund's confidence in the Kikwete administration.
On Tuesday, Mr Mwanyika said his team had so far identified about 75 per cent or Sh99.75 billion of the stolen money.
The Citizen has established that Mr Patel is involved in nine out of the 13 companies that reportedly received about Sh90.3 billion through EPA, using forged or false documents�.
The companies are Navycut Tobacco (T) Ltd, Ndovu Soaps Ltd, Bina Resorts Ltd, Bencon International Ltd, Maltan Mining Company Ltd, Bora Hotels and Apartments Ltd, Venus Hotels Ltd, and BV Holdings Ltd.
Sources within the EPA investigation team told The Citizen that Mr Patel was forced to return to the country last week in order to answer various allegations over the multi-billion scandal that rocked the country in 2005/6.
Earlier, a member of the investigation team, who sought anonymity, had told The Citizen: The information I have is that Jeetu Patel is going to be interrogated this week, either Thursday or Friday, it will depend on the committee�s schedule.
The Government has ordered all the concerned security organs to ensure that Mr Patel does not leave the country all measures have already been taken to ensure that he is not leaving, he said.
According to information made available to The Citizen, Mr Patel was allegedly the main supplier of vehicles to CCM during the 2005 General Election. A total of 123 vehicles worth Sh984 million are said to have been given to the ruling party for use during the election campaigns.
The vehicles, each costing Sh8 million, were allegedly distributed to the party's offices in every district.
However it wasn't clear whether the vehicles were supplied to the ruling party as a donation or sold outright.
Reached for comment, the ruling party's publicity secretary, Captain (Rtd) John Chiligati, said: I wasn't at the party's headquarters during that time, therefore, it's difficult for me to speak about those transactions.
We received vehicles but under what circumstances is something beyond my knowledge, Mr Chiligati told The Citizen by telephone.
But CCM secretary-general Yusuf Makamba said: We didn't receive any grants or donation of vehicles from anybody we bought the vehicles.
According to a special audit conducted by Ernst and Young, a total of 22 companies were involved in the theft of Sh133 billion in 2005/6.
Of those involved, 13 companies got Sh90, 359,078,804 using forged documents, and while another nine unregistered companies were irregularly paid Sh42 billion.
Yesterday, the IMF mission currently visiting Tanzania said they were satisfied with the way the Government was handling the EPA fraud.
IMF executive director Fayolle, leading the Fund's mission said: We are very comforted by the efforts of the Government of Tanzania on the EPA account and we commend the action plan put forward by the government on how to deal with the situation but we hope the process would be speeded up.
Finance and Economic Affairs minister Mustapha Mkullo said he was not in a position to say how much money has been returned by the culprits so far.
If you give me two weeks, I will be able to tell you how much has been recovered. The most important thing now is that the IMF is satisfied by our efforts,� Mr Mkullo told journalists.
Apart from the Mwanyika led-task force, an action plan announced by the Government to deal with the EPA fraud, includes improving internal controls within the ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and the BoT, to enhance accountability.
In addition, the Bank's newly appointed board of directors has been instructed to take disciplinary action against staff found to have been involved in the malpractice.
By Mkinga Mkinga
THE CITIZEN
Mr Jeetu Patel, one of the alleged key players in the Central Bank's External Payments Arrears (EPA) account scandal that cost the country Sh133 billion, is back in the country for interrogation, The Citizen has learnt.
Mr Patel, who has been abroad for about two months, was summoned to appear before a special investigation team appointed by President Jakaya Kikwete after he received the EPA report following an audit by Ernst and Young. Mr Patel was asked to return from the United Kingdom.
Attorney-General Johnson Mwanyika, who chairs the special team, told The Citizen that Mr Patel is expected to appear before the panel tomorrow.
When called yesterday on his mobile phone, Mr Patel, who is in Dar es Salaam, declined to comment on the issue before the line went dead. However, he later called The Citizen newsroom using his mobile phone but when he was asked to explain any role he may have played in the EPA deal, Mr Patel again declined to speak about it.
In early January, President Kikwete directed Attorney-General Mwanyika, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Saidi Mwema, and the director-general of Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Mr Edward Hosea, to thoroughly investigate those named in the Ernst & Young EPA report.
President Kikwete directed the Mwanyika team to investigate all the companies and individuals who were involved in the scandal. The team has also been charged with recovering the stolen funds and assets acquired with the cash.
Yesterday, the visiting International Monetary Fund executive director, Mr Ambrose Fayolle, lauded the EPA report.
The IMF official said in Dar es Salaam that the crackdown on those implicated in the fraudulent payments from the BoT had helped restore the Fund's confidence in the Kikwete administration.
On Tuesday, Mr Mwanyika said his team had so far identified about 75 per cent or Sh99.75 billion of the stolen money.
The Citizen has established that Mr Patel is involved in nine out of the 13 companies that reportedly received about Sh90.3 billion through EPA, using forged or false documents.
The companies are Navycut Tobacco (T) Ltd, Ndovu Soaps Ltd, Bina Resorts Ltd, Bencon International Ltd, Maltan Mining Company Ltd, Bora Hotels and Apartments Ltd, Venus Hotels Ltd, and BV Holdings Ltd.
Sources within the EPA investigation team told The Citizen that Mr Patel was forced to return to the country last week in order to answer various allegations over the multi-billion scandal that rocked the country in 2005/6.
Earlier, a member of the investigation team, who sought anonymity, had told The Citizen: The information I have is that Jeetu Patel is going to be interrogated this week, either Thursday or Friday, it will depend on the committee's schedule.
The Government has ordered all the concerned security organs to ensure that Mr Patel does not leave the country all measures have already been taken to ensure that he is not leaving, he said.
According to information made available to The Citizen, Mr Patel was allegedly the main supplier of vehicles to CCM during the 2005 General Election. A total of 123 vehicles worth Sh984 million are said to have been given to the ruling party for use during the election campaigns.
The vehicles, each costing Sh8 million, were allegedly distributed to the party's offices in every district.
However it wasn't clear whether the vehicles were supplied to the ruling party as a donation or sold outright.
Reached for comment, the ruling party's publicity secretary, Captain (Rtd) John Chiligati, said: I wasn't at the party�s headquarters during that time, therefore, it's difficult for me to speak about those transactions.
We received vehicles but under what circumstances is something beyond my knowledge, Mr Chiligati told The Citizen by telephone.
But CCM secretary-general Yusuf Makamba said: We didn't receive any grants or donation of vehicles from anybody we bought the vehicles.
According to a special audit conducted by Ernst and Young, a total of 22 companies were involved in the theft of Sh133 billion in 2005/6.
Of those involved, 13 companies got Sh90, 359,078,804 using forged documents, and while another nine unregistered companies were irregularly paid Sh42 billion.
Yesterday, the IMF mission currently visiting Tanzania said they were satisfied with the way the Government was handling the EPA fraud.
IMF executive director Fayolle, leading the Fund�s mission said: We are very comforted by the efforts of the Government of Tanzania on the EPA account and we commend the action plan put forward by the government on how to deal with the situation but we hope the process would be speeded up.
Finance and Economic Affairs minister Mustapha Mkullo said he was not in a position to say how much money has been returned by the culprits so far.
If you give me two weeks, I will be able to tell you how much has been recovered. The most important thing now is that the IMF is satisfied by our efforts, Mr Mkullo told journalists.
Apart from the Mwanyika led-task force, an action plan announced by the Government to deal with the EPA fraud, includes improving internal controls within the ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and the BoT, to enhance accountability.
In addition, the Bank's newly appointed board of directors has been instructed to take disciplinary action against staff found to have been involved in the malpractice.
By Mkinga Mkinga
Mr Jeetu Patel, one of the alleged key players in the Central Bank's External Payments Arrears (EPA) account scandal that cost the country Sh133 billion, is back in the country for interrogation, The Citizen has learnt.
Mr Patel, who has been abroad for about two months, was summoned to appear before a special investigation team appointed by President Jakaya Kikwete after he received the EPA report following an audit by Ernst and Young. Mr Patel was asked to return from the United Kingdom.
Attorney-General Johnson Mwanyika, who chairs the special team, told The Citizen that Mr Patel is expected to appear before the panel tomorrow.
When called yesterday on his mobile phone, Mr Patel, who is in Dar es Salaam, declined to comment on the issue before the line went dead. However, he later called The Citizen newsroom using his mobile phone but when he was asked to explain any role he may have played in the EPA deal, Mr Patel again declined to speak about it.
In early January, President Kikwete directed Attorney-General Mwanyika, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Saidi Mwema, and the director-general of Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Mr Edward Hosea, to thoroughly investigate those named in the Ernst & Young EPA report.
President Kikwete directed the Mwanyika team to investigate all the companies and individuals who were involved in the scandal. The team has also been charged with recovering the stolen funds and assets acquired with the cash.
Yesterday, the visiting International Monetary Fund executive director, Mr Ambrose Fayolle, lauded the EPA report.
The IMF official said in Dar es Salaam that the crackdown on those implicated in the fraudulent payments from the BoT had helped restore the Fund's confidence in the Kikwete administration.
On Tuesday, Mr Mwanyika said his team had so far identified about 75 per cent or Sh99.75 billion of the stolen money.
The Citizen has established that Mr Patel is involved in nine out of the 13 companies that reportedly received about Sh90.3 billion through EPA, using forged or false documents�.
The companies are Navycut Tobacco (T) Ltd, Ndovu Soaps Ltd, Bina Resorts Ltd, Bencon International Ltd, Maltan Mining Company Ltd, Bora Hotels and Apartments Ltd, Venus Hotels Ltd, and BV Holdings Ltd.
Sources within the EPA investigation team told The Citizen that Mr Patel was forced to return to the country last week in order to answer various allegations over the multi-billion scandal that rocked the country in 2005/6.
Earlier, a member of the investigation team, who sought anonymity, had told The Citizen: The information I have is that Jeetu Patel is going to be interrogated this week, either Thursday or Friday, it will depend on the committee�s schedule.
The Government has ordered all the concerned security organs to ensure that Mr Patel does not leave the country all measures have already been taken to ensure that he is not leaving, he said.
According to information made available to The Citizen, Mr Patel was allegedly the main supplier of vehicles to CCM during the 2005 General Election. A total of 123 vehicles worth Sh984 million are said to have been given to the ruling party for use during the election campaigns.
The vehicles, each costing Sh8 million, were allegedly distributed to the party's offices in every district.
However it wasn't clear whether the vehicles were supplied to the ruling party as a donation or sold outright.
Reached for comment, the ruling party's publicity secretary, Captain (Rtd) John Chiligati, said: I wasn't at the party's headquarters during that time, therefore, it's difficult for me to speak about those transactions.
We received vehicles but under what circumstances is something beyond my knowledge, Mr Chiligati told The Citizen by telephone.
But CCM secretary-general Yusuf Makamba said: We didn't receive any grants or donation of vehicles from anybody we bought the vehicles.
According to a special audit conducted by Ernst and Young, a total of 22 companies were involved in the theft of Sh133 billion in 2005/6.
Of those involved, 13 companies got Sh90, 359,078,804 using forged documents, and while another nine unregistered companies were irregularly paid Sh42 billion.
Yesterday, the IMF mission currently visiting Tanzania said they were satisfied with the way the Government was handling the EPA fraud.
IMF executive director Fayolle, leading the Fund's mission said: We are very comforted by the efforts of the Government of Tanzania on the EPA account and we commend the action plan put forward by the government on how to deal with the situation but we hope the process would be speeded up.
Finance and Economic Affairs minister Mustapha Mkullo said he was not in a position to say how much money has been returned by the culprits so far.
If you give me two weeks, I will be able to tell you how much has been recovered. The most important thing now is that the IMF is satisfied by our efforts,� Mr Mkullo told journalists.
Apart from the Mwanyika led-task force, an action plan announced by the Government to deal with the EPA fraud, includes improving internal controls within the ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and the BoT, to enhance accountability.
In addition, the Bank's newly appointed board of directors has been instructed to take disciplinary action against staff found to have been involved in the malpractice.
