Police in Blantyre last week arrested three Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) employees for allegedly swindling over K21 million from the organisation.

The three, George Mahenge, Arthur Nyirenda and Richard Chitanda with another colleague, allegedly opened an account with Loita Bank without the knowledge of management and used to deposit and withdraw money from it. A constable Jamali, speaking on behalf of police public relations office Willie Mwaluka, said in an interview on Wednesday the three employees were picked after the bureau reported the alleged crime to Blantyre Police Station.

“The account had been operational from 15 June last year to June 30 this year when they decided for other reasons to close it and the bank was thanking the bureau for being their client,” alleged Jamali. MBS director general Malata Chirwa confirmed the incident on Wednesday. He said the bureau discovered the alleged crime when it received a letter from Loita Bank thanking the organisation for maintaining “a fat account” for one year.

“We were very surprised when we got the letter thanking us for being Loita’s customers and we alerted Fiscal Police who came and picked them up from the bureau’s offices,” Malata said. He added that the fourth employee, Stanley Phoya, who was fired before the alleged crime was uncovered, is still at large. The three will appear before Blantyre Magistrate Court this morning to answer charges of theft by public servant and conspiracy to fraudulent false accounting, according to Jamali.