Moneychanger loses car, US$16k following convictio...

Moneychanger loses car, US$16k following conviction

Zim Now Writer

An illegal forex dealer, Samuel Tererai Chiodze, lost property to the state as ordered by the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court following his conviction.

Property seized includes a white Honda Airwave motor vehicle, which belonged to his sister Ratidzai Lydia Chiodze. The motor vehicle seized by the police together with cash amounting to ZWL$1 436 500, which was valued at US$16 386 at the time of the seizure.

The Prosecutor-General, through the Asset Forfeiture Unit, applied for the forfeiture of the vehicle and the money on the basis that they were tainted property and therefore proceeds of crime as provided for by Sections 79 and 80 of the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act Chapter 9:24.

Chiodze was arrested on September 24, 2021 during a police operation targeting illegal foreign currency dealers. Police detectives received information that the accused person was illegally dealing in foreign currency.

They searched his residence but could not find any evidence indicative of his involvement. They then decided to search the motor vehicle that was parked at his residence. He refused to surrender the keys to the vehicle.

The police eventually opened the car and found two sacks containing ZWL$1 436 500, which was valued at US$16 386 at the time of the seizure.

The court accordingly found that the motor vehicle was an instrument of crime as it was used to store or transport the tainted cash because no satisfactory explanation was given by Chiodze on how the money ended up in the car.

The court also rejected his sister’s explanation concerning how her vehicle and the money ended up in her brother’s custody.