RBZ Freezes Accounts Of Company Which “Injected Millions Of Dollars In Parallel Market”

Yesterday the RBZ sent out a warning to companies suspected of destabilising the country due to “illegal activities” forex market. The Central Bank followed this up by announcing that one of the companies being investigated by the Financial Intelligence Unit has had their accounts frozen.

Earlier today, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe issued a statement raising its concern on the illegal activites of foreign exchange rate manipulators who have been engaging in activities that have exerted pressure on the exchange rate in the last few days.

The RBZ escalated the matter to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for investigation and the FIU has so far identified one entity (China Nanchang). which has used its bank accounts to inject millions of dollars into the parallel market in the last few days.

The FIU has ordered the freezing of the identified account pending further analysis and is undertaking ongoing surveillance to identify more culprits involved in the paralled market transactions, particularly on the EcoCash platform.

The RBZ remains focused on its mandate to ensure market stability. To this end, the RBZ will work closely with the FIU to identify and take appropriate action, in terms of the law, against any culprits involved in illicit foreign currency activities and manipulation of the foreign exchange rates.

John P Mangudya – RBZ Governor

Interestingly, Nanchang is also the mysterious company that was announced to be supplying the Harare City Council with 600 solar-powered buses last year in March. 11 months later the buses haven’t materialised and now the company is said to be funding the parallel market.