call function with char** as parameter; Memory issue : c++

I call a function with a parameter 'char**' and the parameter is amemory allocated within the function. The problem isi that the allocation is lasted only within the scope of the function and not after the return. Code follows:

// tha global declaration
const char **pszCriteria = NULL;

// function definition, looks good through the debugger
int GetCriteria(char **pszCriteria)
{

...

// get allocation for the number of char* (the rows of char**)
pszCriteria = malloc(nLines * sizeof *pszCriteria);

for (j = 0; j < nLines ; j++)
{
...

// and now get allocation for each char*
pszCriteria[j] = malloc(strlen(szLine) + 1);

// and use it
strncat(pszCriteria[j], szLine, strlen(szLine) - 1);
}

return nLines;
}

int main()
{

...

// and now the call
nLines = GetCriteria(*(&pszCriteria));

// now scan the file and return each count
for (n = 0; n < nLines; n ++)
{
m = Scan3(word, pszCriteria[n]); // UHANDLED ERROR - possibly memory issue

...
}

return 0;

}

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Sun