RBZ under pressure after court order to repay stolen forex
By Alex Bell
SW Radio Africa
04 June 2013
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is under pressure to pay back millions of
dollars in foreign currency it illegally seized at the height of the country’s
economic collapse, after a landmark ruling by the High Court.
The High Court last week ordered the central bank to return over US$1
million to the Trojan Nickel Mine firm, in a ruling that sets a new
precedent in cases against the RBZ’s theft of foreign currency.
The Bank, under the leadership of Governor Gideon Gono, seized more than a
million US dollars from Trojan’s bank account in 2007, after it ‘centralised’
all foreign currency accounts. This was part of efforts to stem the imminent
collapse of the economy, which had suffered from years of economic misuse
and bad policies by the then ZANU PF led government.
The ‘centralised’ order saw authorised dealers of forex being forced to hand
over their clients’ money to the RBZ, which resulted in more than a billion
dollars worth of foreign cash being seized.
This included just over a million dollars in a BancABC account owned by the
Trojan Nickel firm.
Economist John Robertson told SW Radio Africa that the RBZ has been trying
to distance itself from the claims, arguing that it had no legal
relationship with either companies or individuals who unwittingly funded
ZANU PF during that time.
“The RBZ has been trying to deny any of the companies, including charities
and NGOs, access to money they can’t deliver. The ruling doesn’t necessarily
mean that Trojan will get the money because it doesn’t actually exist,”
Robertson said.
He continued: “The amounts (seized by the RBZ) total more than a billion
dollars, and a great many of the other companies and individuals are going
to lodge a claim with the precedent of this case being used.”
“It will lead to a lot more anxiety and frustration rather than settlements.
There will be a great many people still waiting for settlement in six months
time,” Robertson said.