UK lawyers helped Zambia ex-president launder £23m

· High court judgment tells of shameless plunder
· Serious fraud officers investigate London firms

Update: On 31 July 2008 the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court judgment against Iqbal Meer and Naynesh Desai. It found that Iqbal Meer did not dishonestly assist or conspire to defraud or launder money from the Zambian government. Naydesh Desai, who had been held vicariously liable by the High Court, was also cleared by the Court of Appeal

Two London law firms, including one run by Nelson Mandela's personal UK lawyer, were involved in a conspiracy to launder part of $46m (£23m) "plundered" by a former African president, a high court judge ruled yesterday at the end of a secret four-month trial.

Both firms are under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and the City of London police for handling the proceeds of crime. One insider has described the investigation as the "flagship corruption case for sub-Saharan Africa".

In a damning 220-page judgment Mr Justice Peter Smith accused ex-president Frederick Chiluba of Zambia, who left office in 2001, of shamelessly defrauding his people and flaunting his wealth with an expensive wardrobe of "stupendous proportions".

The judge reserved his most abrasive remarks for Chiluba, whose corruption trial in Zambia has been repeatedly postponed because of his ill health. He refused to give evidence to the court. Mr Justice Smith singled out as "the most telling example of corruption" his $500,000 purchase of hundreds of suits and monogrammed shirts from an exclusive boutique in Switzerland, as well as 72 pairs of handmade, high heel shoes to extend his 5ft stature. "This was at a time when the vast majority of Zambians were struggling to live on $1 a day and many could not afford more than one meal a day. The people of Zambia should know that whenever he appears in public wearing some of these clothes he acquired them with money stolen from them."

The lead defendant in the London case is the central London law firm of Meer Care & Desai who handled $10m of the stolen money, which was used to fund lavish lifestyles for Chiluba's family and friends.

Iqbal Meer is Nelson Mandela's lawyer in London who handled the business end of his best selling autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. During the course of the trial Mr Mandela provided a character reference. He is also a trustee, along with David Attenborough, of the Mandela Statue Fund, which last month was given permission to erect the 9ft bronze in Parliament Square. Tony Blair heads the list of honorary patrons.

The judge concluded that Meer, despite his "long and distinguished career", must have known that the money was tainted. "I am satisfied that no honest solicitor in his position would have done what he did." His unquestioning acceptance of the money - transferred to a London bank account by the Zambian intelligence service - was "classic blind eye dishonesty".

After the judgment hearing, which was unusually broadcast by video link to the high court in Lusaka, Meer's lawyers said: "Mr Meer is disappointed with the outcome. He maintains that he acted honestly at all times and he is consulting with his legal advisers regarding an appeal."

His partner, Naynesh Desai, is the lawyer of choice for a stellar list of international cricketers, including Ian Botham and Allan Lamb in their libel action against Imran Khan in 1996, the Pakistan all-rounder Wasim Akram, Mark Ramprakash and Mohammed Azharuddin. Mr Desai was not accused as a conspirator and the judge found him an honest witness. But he was made equally liable with Meer under the Partnership Act.

The second law firm, Cave Malik & Co, of Edgware, north London, which handled $3m , is run by Bimal Thaker, a British citizen and a close associate of the Chiluba circle who had previously practised in Zambia. The judge described Thaker as "a thoroughly dishonest witness".

The case, which was brought by the Zambian government against Chiluba and 19 of his associates, was held entirely in private on the judge's orders.

He made the unusual ruling in order not to prejudice a parallel criminal trial in Zambia where Chiluba and three others are charged with corruption. Part of the Zambian case was funded from a $2m grant for anti-corruption work from the UK's Department for International Development. The minister, Hilary Benn, hailed the decision "an historic victory for the people of Zambia".

The judge was giving judgment in civil proceedings, brought by the attorney general of Zambia. Details of precisely how much is recoverable from each defendant will be decided at a later date.

Zambia's victory, however, may still be undermined. Last week in a separate high court case a US "vulture fund" won a claim of $15m in an action involving the purchase of Zambian debt. Zambia defaulted on payment and the company, Donegal International, sued for $55m after buying it for only $3.2m . But the judge reduced the award because of the dishonesty of Donegal's witnesses. Although Donegal has access to $10m of Zambian assets in the UK, they may seek to make up the difference by claiming money won yesterday.

Leader flaunted wealth even during trial

Two years ago today, Frederick Chiluba walked into a tin-roofed court in Zambia's capital, Lusaka, accused of fraudulently diverting large sums of his government's money. He sat in the defendant's box in a dazzlingly sharp suit, as if exhibiting evidence of his shopping trips to Geneva to a packed public gallery.

Mr Chiluba had reason to be confident. His prosecution was supposed to have marked a watershed in African judicial accountability - the first former president on the continent to be prosecuted for serious crimes in a fair domestic trial.

But although Zambia's parliament had removed his immunity from prosecution, the legal process had practically stalled: a co-defendant had fled the country, two out of three of his trials collapsed, and prosecutors complained of political interference.

Watching public support for his anti-corruption efforts deteriotate, Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa flirted with offering his predecessor a pardon if he returned 75% of the laundered money

The decision to pursue stolen assets through British civil courts offered the best hope of repatriating laundered money and reaching an official judgment over the behaviour of Mr Chiluba and his co-conspirators.

Mr Chiluba portrayed the action as an imposition of law from an old colonial power. "Why are we sacrificing our sovereignty?" he said in 2005. But people in one of Africa's poorest countries were enthusiastic. Many failed to grasp the distinction between a criminal and civil trial.

Mr Chiluba remains on trial in Zambia on a reduced list of theft charges, although proceedings have halted while he seeks medical treatment.

Mr Justice Peter Smith's ruling that Mr Chiluba "actively participated in" large-scale laundering will be proxy justice for Zambians disappointed at their own country's failure to convict any of the country's elite over the plunder suspected to have taken place in the 1990s.
Paul Lewis