An investigation by South African unit Amabhungane has uncovered potential money laundering involving the late President Robert Mugabe’s son, Bellarmine Chatunga, just before Mugabe’s ousting in a coup. The investigation revealed a series of illegal Hawala payments made to Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe through an unnamed individual connected to Ewan Macmillan of the Gold Mafia exposé.
Hawala payments are illegal methods used to settle bills across borders to evade regulations and surveillance, NewZimbabwe.com reported. This method was previously exposed in the Gold Mafia investigation, in which Macmillan played a significant role, as reported by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit. Read the report:
Other tantalising entries in the Caydees books include a “BC Mugabe”, reflecting the initials of Robert Mugabe’s youngest son Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe.
Thirteen payments totalling just shy of R10-million were made to this individual during the tumultuous lead-up to the ouster of the elder Mugabe from power in November 2017.
At the time there were outraged news reports of Bellarmine’s extravagant lifestyle in Johannesburg.
Amabhungane is expected to release a more detailed report on how the Mugabes shipped hard currency to South Africa. Mugabe’s other children, Bona and Robert Jr, have also faced legal issues. Bona was revealed to have acquired extensive land holdings, including farms, during a contentious divorce. Robert Jr has been involved in violent incidents, allegedly overlooked due to his association with the ruling party ZANU PF.
It is alleged that in November 2017 when Robert Mugabe was removed from power by the military and his former allies, including current President Emmerson Mnangagwa, two transactions worth R1 million were processed. Before that, in October, there were five batches of R1 million transactions and two batches of R500,000 transactions. The first R500,000 transaction took place in September.