Zimbabwe: Central Bank Freezes Assets of Four Suspected in Gold Smuggling and Money Laundering Ring

Reserve Bank Freezes Assets of Four Zimbabwean Nationals

• The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has announced the freezing of the assets of Cleopas Chidodo, David Chirozvi, Mehlululi Dube, and Fredrick Kunaka.
• The four men are suspected of assisting a long-running gold smuggling and money laundering ring.
• They admitted to their involvement in the operation in an investigative documentary series called ‘Gold Mafia’, which aired on al-Jazeera last month.

Significant Development in Fighting Corruption

• This development marks a significant step in Zimbabwe’s fight against corruption, particularly in the gold sector.
• Prosper Chitambara, a senior researcher and economist at the Labor and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe, welcomed the announcement.

“Corruption contributes to the high cost of doing business in Zimbabwe,” Chitambara said. “It affects the development of other critical sectors because resources are being diverted to productive spending into a few individuals’ pockets. There’s a need to do more.”

Call for Stronger Disincentives

• Chitambara called for stronger disincentives, stricter penalties, and no sacred cows when it comes to individuals suspected of corruption.

“We need stronger disincentives, stricter penalties to disincentive, to dissuade, and discourage corrupt tendencies,” he stated. “But there should be no sacred cows. Every person who is accused to have been involved in any corruption must be brought to account and be prosecuted.”

Investigations Launched, but Critics Express Concerns

• The RBZ and Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission both refused to comment on the matter, citing the need to watch all episodes of the documentary series.
• In response, Monica Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwe’s information minister, urged responsible departments to take action against those involved in gold smuggling.

“Government takes the allegations raised in the documentary seriously and has directed relevant organs to institute investigations into issues raised therein,” Mutsvangwa stated. “Any person found to have been engaged in acts of corruption, fraud or any form of crime will face the full wrath of the law. Government remains seized with the matter and the nation will be kept appraised of any new developments.”

• Critics argue that the Zimbabwean government has not done enough to tackle endemic corruption, especially among senior officials of the ruling ZANU-PF party.
• Last year, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission spent $33 million on corruption investigations, resulting in no convictions to date.

Suspects Go Into Hiding

• The whereabouts of the four suspects in the gold smuggling case remain unknown.
• Their phones were not reachable on Thursday, raising speculation that they might have already taken evasive measures to evade arrest.