STAFF WRITER
THIRTY money changers’ mobile lines have been frozen for abusing mobile telecommunications services and other social media platforms to promote and facilitate illegal foreign exchange transactions and money laundering activities.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) security arm, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) said the mobile phones lines and bank accounts of the culprits are going to be barred and frozen for a period of two years.
Authorities say illicit financial transactions are prejudicing the country off millions of dollars annually leading to volatile financial environment and inflation.
The greenback recently shot up to Z$170 on the parallel market, compared to the bank rate of $85
“The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has identified individuals listed hereunder who are abusing mobile telecommunications services and other social media platforms to promote and facilitate illegal foreign exchange transactions and money laundering activities,” reads a statement from the RBZ.
“The FIU has instructed banks, mobile money operators and other financial services providers to identify and freeze any accounts operated by these individuals and, further, to bar them from accessing financial services for a period of two years, with immediate effect. The FIU has also requested the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) to bar the said individuals from operating mobile phone lines.”
The FIU has vowed to pounce on perpetrators of illicit financial transactions adding that the names of the 30 money launderers have been handed over to law enforcement agencies for prosecution.
“The FIU, in collaboration with the law enforcement agencies, will continue to monitor various social media and bank accounts to identify and take action against perpetrators of illicit dealings. Over and above the corrective measures of barring the delinquent individuals from accessing banking and financial services and operating mobile phone lines, the FIU has forwarded the names and particulars to law enforcement agencies for prosecution,” said the RBZ.
Critics have, however, expressed reservation over the FIU’s targeting of small fish involved in money illicit activities leaving the politically connected bigwigs freely roaming the streets.
Observers say the naming and shaming of abusers of foreign currency by the RBZ should be widened to include the offending contractors and the big corporates that are being fronted by their surrogates as their shenanigans are a cancer to society.
Economist Dr Tim Rainhard who has extensive knowledge on Africa’s financial systems, posits that the the heavy demand for foreign currency in Zimbabwe has its foundation in the 2007/08 economic crisis when the entire population lost confidence in the Zimbabwe dollar, resulting in its banishment from circulation.
“Fearing a repeat of the same, every little penny earned is now being channeled towards buying foreign currency in order to hedge against inflation notwithstanding the fact that the authorities have since September 2020 successfully tamed the inflation monster, which has been receding,” he recently wrote in an opinion.
“Having said that, it is also up to us, the citizens of Zimbabwe, to shun unhelpful, negative behaviours that are not informed by evidence.”
