Suspected Money Changers Further Retained In Custody
The sixty-five suspected illegal forex traders who were arrested on Independence Day, were on Wednesday further remanded in custody at the request of prosecutors who claimed were still to verify residential addresses for some of the accused.
Prosecutors also told Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi that the investigating officer’s testimony was also crucial in the bail hearing process before any ruling could be made.
They also argued that the investigating officer was among police officers who had been deployed to take part in extra duties concerning Saturday by-elections, and therefore, could not readily avail himself for the process.
The suspected money changers were remanded to dates including this Friday, Monday and Tuesday for bail hearing.
Speaking to journalists following court proceedings, Tatenda Ishemukuru Ndlovu, of Chatsama and partners, representing some of the accused, said (via ZimLive):
HOT DEALS:
itel A70 - (128GB, 3GB RAM) $89,
itel A70 - (256GB, 4GB RAM) $99
itel P40 (128GB, 4GB), (6000mAh) $99
itel P40 (64GB, 4G), (6000mAh) $93
LATEST:
itel S24 (128GB) $124 (108MP camera)
itel S24 (256GB) $159 (108MP camera)
Cash on Delivery in Harare & Bulawayo. Tinotumira kwamuri inosvika.
WhatsApp: 0783 450 793
The case has been postponed to Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. The state intends to call the evidence of the investigating officer and because of the issues they want to clarify…only the IO would know, so we agreed to the postponement though grudgingly.
Bail applications by very nature are urgent applications and you would want the application to be determined at the earliest possible time, but there are issues to be clarified.
We will be disappointed but at the same time, wait for that to happen. At the end of the day justice has to prevail.
Ndlovu said the allegations his clients are facing are not very serious and the worst-case scenario could be a non-custodial sentence. He said:
As far as I’m concerned, these are not serious allegations and we believe that if justice is going to take place, our clients are going to be granted bail.
They are very suitable candidates for bail.
In terms of the law, these are charges that can be determined before a court but are not very serious.
They can be fined but the worst scenario can happen is maybe a non-custodial sentence.
The suspected illegal foreign exchange dealers operating on the streets of Harare were arrested and charged with contravening section 5(1)(a)(ii) of the Exchange Control Act [Chapter 22:05] as read with section 4(1)(a)(1) of the Exchange Control Regulations SI 109 of 1996 “Dealing in foreign currency”.
The arrests came after the RBZ’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) launched a blitz targeting illegal money changers businesses accused of trading exclusively in US dollars and refusing to transact in ZiG.
More: Pindula News
