Zacc believes close to US$7 billion is stashed in countries
such as South Africa, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Malaysia,
Spain and Singapore.
In a ruling delivered on February 9, Pretoria High Court
judge Aubrey Ledwaba gave South African authorities permission to seize pending
forfeiture to the Zimbabwean Government, an upmarket house in Pretoria and two
Range Rovers belonging to Marry Mubaiwa.
The property is worth US$919 943 (R14 million).
Part of the ruling reads: “A preservation order is granted
with immediate effect in terms of Section 38(2) of the Prevention of Organised
Crime Act of 1998 (POCA) preserving the property (the property) identified . .
.
“That the South African Police Service (SAPS) Brooklyn
Police Station under Cas 308/01/2020 to seize the property as described in
paragraph 1.2 and 1,3 above to be kept for safekeeping at Pretoria West Pound
VSS., until the outcome of the forfeiture proceedings to be instituted in terms
of Section 48 of the Act.”
Mubaiwa is being charged with five counts of fraud and
contravening Section 8 (2) of Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act for
“concealing, disguising the true nature, source, location, disposition,
movement or ownership; of or rights with respect to property, knowing or suspecting
that such property are proceeds of crime”.
ZACC, with the assistance of the Prosecutor-General’s
Office, requested Mutual Legal Assistance from Pretoria in obtaining records of
the transactions.
ZACC spokesperson Commissioner John Makamure told The
Sunday Mail that the order against Mubaiwa is just a tip of the iceberg, as the
corruption watchdog has intensified negotiations with several countries to
recover ill-gotten assets.
“We are vigorously pursuing mutual legal assistance with
several countries in order to make it easier to trace, seize and recover
billions of assets suspected to have been siphoned abroad,” he said.
As a signatory of the United Nations Convention Against
Corruption (UNCAC), he added, Zimbabwe is obliged to get assistance from
several countries to get back the stolen assets.
“By virtue of being part of the United Nations Convention
Against Corruption (UNCAC), we will be able to enter into bilateral relations
which will enable us to make mutual legalassistance,” Comm Makamure said.
UNCAC is a multilateral treaty negotiated by member states
of the United Nations.
It requires state parties to the treaty to implement
several anti-corruption measures that focus on five main areas: prevention, law
enforcement, international cooperation, asset recovery, and technical
assistance and information exchange.
In a recent interview, ZACC chairperson Justice Loice
Matanda-Moyo said the anti-graft body will go all-out to recover siphoned
assets.
“Informally, we have now identified over US$7 billion worth
of property and cash all over the world which were siphoned by our former
leaders, current leaders, private sector and individuals. So this information
we only got informally, so now we have to formalise the process so that we
start the processes of repatriating the monies back home.”
ZACC has already started training its offers to enhance
their expertise in asset recovery. Sunday Mail
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