The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has reportedly commenced investigations into individuals implicated in money laundering activities and illicit gold dealings in Al Jazeera’s documentary revealing alleged criminals driving gold smuggling and money laundering worth billions of dollars in Southern Africa.
Last week the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) launched investigations into Uebert Angel and Ewan Macmillan in a bid to ascertain the assets they own as well as the duo’s recent transactions.
Angel, who is President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s special envoy and ambassador-at-large to Europe and the Americas, and Macmillan are both mentioned in the Al Jazeera documentary as part of an alleged band of money launderers.
NewZimbabwe.com reported a highly placed source in the FIU as saying the investigation nets have been widened. Said the official:
The scope of investigations has now been widened to target every individual featured in the documentary in order to establish their financial activities in a bid to ascertain the magnitude of their misconduct if any.
These measures are in a bid to ensure that Zimbabwe, which was recently removed from the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in March 2022 after being deemed compliant in upholding the required global anti-money laundering banking standards.
So authorities now need to know whether these people have at any given time laundered money into Zimbabwe and how they managed to navigate while circumventing the regulatory measures in place.
There is suspicion that there could have been enablers within the rank and files of authority.
Plans are that if unearthed, the appropriate course of law must take effect both within and beyond the borders.
Individuals mentioned in the documentary include Angel’s personal assistant Rikki Doolan, Simon Rudland, Henrietta Rushwaya, Alistair Mathias and Kamlesh Pattni.
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