Gono helped Kuruneri's illegal forex deals

Gono helped Kuruneri's illegal forex deals

GIDEON GONO: Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank chief

• Gono tightens control

• Zim huts down fleeing tycoons

• Amnesty for Zim banks

• End of era for forex dealers

• Gono new RBZ governor

• Tea boy to national purse

By Bonny Schoonakker

EVIDENCE before the Zimbabwe High Court this week has raised questions about the role of that country's central bank governor in the forex scandal that led to the arrest of former Finance Minister Chris Kuruneri.

According to Judge Ben Hlatshwayo, Kuruneri unlawfully withdrew forex from Jewel Bank (previously the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe) in March 2002 - when Gideon Gono, now governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, was its chief executive. The judge also noted that the money was received by a Cape Town firm of attorneys which handled Kuruneri's investment in the city' s property market. C B Niland & Partners accepted a withdrawal of R5.2-million from Jewel Bank "as payment for the purchase" of a property in Apostle Road, Llandudno.

Gono, who left Jewel Bank for the Reserve Bank in December last year, has been credited with saving Jewel Bank from "the jaws of collapse". Kuruneri was promoted to finance minister in February, after serving as deputy to Herbert Murerwa, who has been reinstated since Kuruneri's arrest last month.

The house in Apostle Road is one of three Cape Town properties owned by Kuruneri, who this week lost his appeal to the High Court for bail. He is facing five charges ranging from fraud to violating immigration laws.

Hlatshwayo listed the ex-minister 's mansion in Sunset Avenue, Llandudno, among assets unlawfully acquired. The property's true ownership was exposed by this newspaper last month. Since then, the only work on the site has been to paint over graffiti daubed on its walls. Neighbours say the words, which were mostly in Shona, included the phrase "blood money". Hlatshwayo also listed "a Mercedes-Benz worth R547 734" and an apartment elsewhere on the Peninsula. Altogether, Kuruneri's Cape portfolio is alleged to be worth just over R8.24-million, partly funded by the illegal withdrawals made from Jewel Bank from March 2002 to date. Developers of the Llandudno property, however, claim that Kuruneri was planning to spend R30-million on the property.

The judge's summary does not explain how the rest of Kuruneri' s property was funded. Hlatshwayo does take note of a submission filed by a Canadian consultancy firm called "Filipe Solano SL", for whom Kuruneri worked between 1976 and 1981. A letter from the firm's president Felipe Solano to the company building Kuruneri's mansion, states that Kuruneri had worked for the company and acquired the funds legally. But the judge accepted the state's argument that that explanation was "inconceivable ".

Kuruneri's lawyer offered an explanation for the transfer of funds from Jewel Bank to South Africa, but this had only "equal weight" to the state's allegations that the withdrawals were unlawful. The Cape Town-based attorney, Lorenzo Bruttomesso, this week declined to comment on the allegations and referred to a statement issued earlier this month on behalf of his firm which said that: "In all matters dealt with on behalf of clients our firm has complied with relevant laws and regulations."

Nevertheless, the Jewel Bank withdrawals have raised serious questions, including some about the role of Gono.

According to a member of Zimbabwe's banking industry, Gono's role needs to be examined "as it is most unusual that approval would be granted as this would be considered an externalisation of capital... ie, the remittance was not for the purposes of trade or the production of income.

Quite apart from the exchange control questions that need to be answered, the question is, where did Kuruneri get the Zimbabwe dollars for the rand transfers and purchases that he made? He couldn't afford that sort of money on a deputy minister's salary." If this investigation is conducted thoroughly, it will show that Gono has some questions to answer."
Sunday Times, SA
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com