Lilongwe — The Nkukula Magistrate Court in Dowa on Wednesday sentenced a Chinese woman, Liqiong Chen, to fines of MK500,000 and MK100,000 on two respective counts relating to externalization of foreign currency amounting to MK4.2 million.
Mana reported the arrest of Liqiong, 42, on January 21, 2015 at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) where she attempted to fly out to China on South African Airways carrying British pound and South African Rand equivalent to MK4.2million.
She faced two counts of attempting to transfer foreign currency out of Malawi without permission contrary to Regulation 11 (1) of the Exchange Control Act; and being in possession of foreign currency without permission contrary to Regulation 25 (1) of the same Act.
But according to KIA Police Spokesperson, Sgt. Sapulain Chitonde, the court on Wednesday slapped Liqiong with MK500,000 and MK100,000 fines for the two respective counts or face 2-year, and 6-month jail terms respectively in default of the fines.
Liqiong has since paid the fine, according to Chitonde.
In a related development, the Blantyre Magistrate Court on Monday sentenced a Chinese national the police only identified as Zhou to MK200,000 for being found in possession of 6kg of ivory disguised as curios.
According to police, Zhou was arrested at Chileka International Airport on January 23, 2016, as he was about to board a South African Airways plane to China.
A security check revealed that the curios he was carrying, well polished and black in colour, were actually made from ivory.