Alert for illicit money from Zimbabwe’s president and his supporters
The probability of regime change in Zimbabwe, and the eventual departure of its President, Robert Mugabe, and his closest lieutenants, into exile, raises the question; will they now seek to move the funds they have illegally acquired in a government riddled with endemic corruption? Inasmuch as some of this money may have been quietly residing in accounts in European financial institutions for decades, during a period before awareness arose that reputation damage results from the public disclosures of where a corrupt Politically Exposed Person (PEP) hides his wealth, its existence may have gone unnoticed. Now is the time to pay close attention to attempts to transfer large accounts, as the money may rightfully belong to the people of Zimbabwe, and its corrupt owners are looking to slip away with it. Stop them.
President Mugabe, quoted as saying “I am still the Hitler of this time,” was allegedly involved in War Crimes, as well as Crimes against Humanity, is known to have presided over a government infamous for corruption. Some of those funds undoubtedly have been stashed away in financial institutions in Western Europe.
Let me suggest the following:
* Alert banking staff of any efforts to wire transfer large accounts registered to clients residing anywhere in East or Southern Africa, and that those requested transfers be closely scrutinised to rule out PEP status of the requestors. Thus is not profiling, but prudent pro-active compliance in the face of an emerging threat.
* Front-line tellers should be advised to report any attempts to make large cash withdrawals at the counter, or attempts to obtain cashier’s cheques, from accounts which have had no activity of late.
* Any major financial activity on the part of solicitors known to represent PEPs in your country needs to be examined. This is not an accusation; they may being acting on behalf of clients not known to them to be PEPs. If necessary, bring in outside bank counsel to review the activity, as they may be more skilled in identifying ques