A statement released by the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) on Friday has revealed that the authority locked down 2 businessmen for forgery and evasion of Value Added Tax (VAT) have been charged to pay a fine of K250, 000 each or face a six-months jail term.

The arrests follows after MRA discovered that between July and September this year, the convicts forged EFD receipts worth K490, 500 with the intent to evade payment of VAT. They also defrauded Government about K69, 036.95 in VAT revenue.

The individuals are Andrew Mkome from Phekani Village, Tradition Authority (T/A) Kachindamoto in Dedza District and Francis Phambiwa of Chapweteka Village, T/A Juma in Mulanje District, answering on charges of violating Section 48 and section 49 of the VAT Act. In September, MRA also arrested two Blantyre based businesspersons for violations of the Value Added Tax Act which led to tax revenue losses of over half a billion Kwacha between April to September this year.