Asset recovery: ZACC identifies $7bn cash, properties 

Crime Reporter 

The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) said they have so far identified US$7 billion in cash and properties worldwide stashed by former and current senior Government officials as it intensifies its efforts to recover ill-gotten wealth from the country.

Zacc chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo said some of the properties and cash are stashed in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, United States of America, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mauritius and Spain, among others.

She revealed this during an interview with The Herald on the side-lines of a three-day workshop on asset recovery currently underway in Harare. The workshop is sponsored by the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Justice Matanda-Moyo said they will soon initiate the process of repatriating the monies back once the paper work is in order.

“Informally, we have now identified US$7 billion cash and property all over the world which were siphoned by our former and current leaders including private individuals. We got this information informally. So, now we have to formalise the process so that we start the processes of repatriating the monies back home.

“The purpose of this training is to equip our officers in the techniques of repatriation of stolen funds back home. This workshop is sponsored by the World Bank and UNODC from the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (STAR).

“They are teaching us on the various jurisdictions and how we can interact with officials from those various jurisdictions, who we can engage and who we can actually work with in order to ensure that all those monies are repatriated back to Zimbabwe,” she said.

Officials from the Zacc, Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Department of Immigration, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Special Anti-Corruption Unit are attending the training workshop.