The Sunday Mail has gathered that prosecutors at the
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) are preparing arraignment papers for
several high-profile corporates and individuals believed to have been behind
the parallel market trade in foreign currency which severely weakened the local
currency.
The magistrates court last year granted police a warrant of
search and seizure to enable investigators to look into suspected money
laundering activities through a mobile platform owned by one of the country’s
largest telecommunications companies. The warrant was later stayed by the High
Court, threatening to disrupt investigations into the alleged illicit
activities.
In an interview to mark Zimbabwe’s Independence Day,
President Mnangagwa said authorities were aware of the culprits behind
sabotaging the Zimbabwe dollar, adding that they will soon be brought to
account.
Prosecutor-General Mr Kumbirai Hodzi said that a
multi-agency investigation into the illicit financial transactions has shown
that “phantom money” was being used to sabotage the local unit.
“The other thing we need to know is that our inter-agency
approach has helped with the stabilisation of the currency,” said Mr Hodzi.
“You are aware that the Zimbabwe dollar has been very
stable for nearly a year now. That was result to a large extent of our
co-operation with the monetary authorities like the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s
Financial Intelligence Unit and also other agencies like the CID and special
agencies mandated to fight serious economic crime. We are preparing and we have
prepared cases against persons who were manipulating the mobile money platforms
including the owners and also the agents who were carrying out the shenanigans
attacking the stability of our currency. That has to a large extent helped in
bringing about stabilisation of the currency.”
Asked whether the alleged masterminds will be arraigned
before the courts, Mr Hodzi said: “They are coming. There are cases that have
been prepared. Both the owners of the mobile money platforms and the persons
who were being used to create phantom money, they are going to be brought
before the courts.”
In the Independence Day interview, President Mnangagwa
described the saboteurs as “sharks”.
He said: “We had no currency, our currency had collapsed
years back, and there is no country that can develop and grow its economy on
the basis of another country’s currency. But to move away from that and create
our own currency, it was very painful. So we had to have measures to deal with
the financial services sector in order to reach where we wanted to reach but to
do so we had to fight financial sharks in the financial services sector. And I
am happy to say up to today perhaps we are about 40 to 50 percent in fighting
those financial sharks. Fortunately, we are now wiser than we were at the
beginning, we now know whom we are fighting and who is behind them. This helps
us bring the correct instruments to deal with the financial services sector for
it to serve this country and not to serve foreign interests. So all these
things, as you do them there is suffering, but there is light at the end of the
day and I believe people are beginning to see things changing and the currency
is stabilising but the fight is still on.”
This comes as the NPA has successfully seized assets valued
at over US$13 million found to be proceeds of criminal activities. A further
US$30 000 000 worth of assets have been frozen pending confiscation proceedings
at the High Court. Mr Hodzi said the NPA Asset Forfeiture Unit was being
decentralised to all regional courts, while all prosecutors were being equipped
with asset forfeiture skills.
“Asset seizures are always a key demand from the public in
cases involving corruption and they are also a deterrent feature for would-be
offenders. Ill-gotten wealth must be disgorged off criminals. All the
prosecutors and law officers who operate in these courts have been trained in
all aspects and requirements of asset forfeiture.
“There has been immense progress in the forfeiture of
assets and we have made tremendous inroads in civil asset forfeiture
applications. These applications are made in the anti-corruption courts. So far
we have recovered two houses and vehicles including haulage trucks, all with a
total value of over US$600 000. We have a total of US$13 100 000 worth of
assets that were forfeited to the State. A further US$30 000 000 worth of
assets is frozen pending confiscation proceedings in the High Court.”
Mr Hodzi said prosecutors had been seconded to India for
intensive training in cybercrime, criminology and forensics.
“We have partnered with local, regional and international
authorities in the fight against corruption including the United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network of Southern
Africa (ARINSA), World Bank Group through their Stolen Asset Recovery
Initiative as well as the ICJ to train prosecutors in the prosecution of
corruption cases, anti-money laundering laws and asset forfeiture.
“The training will continue until we are satisfied that
every prosecutor including the recently-recruited prosecutors understand
economic crime and asset forfeiture,” he said. Sunday Mail
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