The police in Zambia have arrested the wife of former President Edgar Lungu on three charges, including theft of a motor vehicle, BBC reported. Esther Lungu, who was taken into custody on Wednesday, has denied the charges.

The former first lady was arrested with three others and they have all also been charged with one count of theft of a certificate of title for a property in Lusaka. Lungu and the three others have further been accused of being in possession of property believed to be proceeds of crime, Zambia Police Deputy Public Relations Officer Danny Mwale said in a statement cited by Bloomberg.

Other government officials including former ministers and the family members of former President Edgar Lungu are also being investigated for suspected criminal activities.

Edgar Lungu came into power in 2015, after the sudden death of then-President Michael Sata in 2014. In 2020, a Zambian mayor was sacked from the country’s governing Patriotic Party (PF) for disrespecting then-First Lady Lungu.

The state-owned Daily Mail newspaper reported that Kitwe mayor Christopher Kang’ombe was suspended from the party and also barred from all party activities for gross indiscipline after he reportedly refused to line up to greet First Lady Lungu during her visit to his district. Kang’ombe was also stripped of his position as the PF’s vice-chairman in the Copperbelt Province.