Textile imports facilitator in court over US$187k externalisation

Munyaradzi Mashiri—Court Correspondent

A 24-year-old man has appeared in court accused of contravening the Exchange Control Act by allegedly operating an unlicensed money transmission facility that handled foreign transactions worth US$187,813.99 for textile imports from Turkey.

Simbarashe Dzimba appeared at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts facing charges under the Exchange Control Act.

The State alleges that between March 2025 and August 2025, Dzimba collected money from local individuals in the textile retail business and facilitated foreign transactions to import textile goods from Turkey on their behalf without authorization from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

On August 28, police approached Dzimba at his business premises and requested documentation to validate his operations.

 He allegedly failed to provide any. 

Receipt books used to record payments from various individuals were recovered during the investigation.

Authorities said the transactions amounted to US$187,813.99, with nothing recovered from the accused.