Dear Friend,
In a new joint investigative report, The Sentry and South African NGO Open Secrets expose how Zimbabwean presidential advisor and business tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei was able to move suspect funds across four countries to finance his purchase of two mines.
The report details how Tagwirei’s deal to purchase Bindura Nickel and Freda Rebecca Gold Mine may not have been possible without enablers—South African company directors, a Mauritian management company agent, a Cayman Islands investment fund, and banks in numerous jurisdictions who knew or should have known that Tagwirei was the ultimate source of funds. At the time of his deal, Tagwirei had been the subject of dozens of news articles mentioning his name in the context of corruption allegations or other wrongdoing. He used the Mauritian company Sotic International to buy the mines, with money traveling from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to London in three payments that raise serious questions about the use of front companies, favorable exchange rates, potential trade misinvoicing, and complex offshore systems.
Illicit money flows have a real human cost. Zimbabwe is one of the poorest countries in the world, with roughly half of the population living on less than $1.80 per day. Yet the country is estimated to lose between $500 million and $1 billion every year to illicit cross-border transactions.
It is critical that the facilitators of illicit money flows are held to account. Our report offers recommendations for regulating the activities of legitimate businesses that, wittingly or unwittingly, enable the flow of questionable funds.
