A court has rejected an application by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) seeking to extend an order freezing more than K35 billion held in bank accounts belonging to officials of Yusuf Investment, the former owners of Amaryllis Hotel.

According to the court ruling, Senior Resident Magistrate Shukurani Kumbani dismissed the application after finding that the ACB had failed to provide sufficient information on the progress of its investigations and had not presented adequate reasons to justify maintaining the freeze on the funds.

The decision means that the bureau was unable to convince the court that the continued restriction on access to the money was necessary while its investigations were ongoing.

Commenting on the ruling, Acting Director General of the ACB, Gabriel Chembezi, expressed concern that the release of the funds could undermine the bureau's investigations.

Chembezi revealed that more than K5 billion had already been withdrawn from the accounts within a short period, raising fears that the money may have been transferred to officials connected to a pension fund. He said the bureau is worried that if additional funds are accessed or moved, it could complicate or interfere with efforts to trace the transactions and establish the facts surrounding the case.

The ACB maintains that preserving the funds is important to protect the integrity of its investigations and ensure that any evidence linked to the financial transactions is not compromised.