JUST IN: ZAMBIA'S FORMER FIRST LADY ARRESTED FOR MONEY LAUNDERING

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Days after her husband stated he was the subject of a political scheming scheme, Zambia’s former first lady was taken into custody on suspicion of money laundering, according to her attorney on Friday.

Lawyer Makebi Zulu told AFP that Esther Lungu, 66, was arrested on Thursday night along with her two daughters after being questioned for hours about the family’s properties in the city of Lusaka. As of right now, she is free on bond.

“The former first lady has been arrested for being found in possession of properties suspected to be proceeds of crime and money laundering charges,” Zulu said.

He stated that Lungu’s spouse, 67-year-old former president Edgar Lungu, had constructed the homes, which are a complex of apartments in Lusaka’s upscale New Kasama neighborhood.

The anti-drug agency in Zambia stated that the former first lady had not provided a “reasonable explanation” for how she came to own the apartments, which had been built for 41 million kwacha ($1.6 million).

He stated that Lungu’s spouse, 67-year-old former president Edgar Lungu, had constructed the homes, which are a complex of apartments in Lusaka’s upscale New Kasama neighborhood.

They were “reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime”, it added.

From 2015 to 2021, Edgar Lungu oversaw the copper-rich nation of Zambia. However, he was defeated in an election by President Hakainde Hichilema, a former opposition leader who had won with a resounding majority.

Lungu declared last year that he would enter politics again, with general elections slated for 2026. Since then, he has voiced concerns about the country’s declining democratic space and what he claimed to be a harassment campaign against his family.

He was cautioned by police not to make his daily jogs into political protests, and last week he declared he was “practically under house arrest,” a charge that the police refuted.

Esther Lungu had previous encounters with the law before her most recent arrest.

On suspicion that she had stolen various cars, her residence was raided the previous year.