Story by Parvel Makona
TWO Harare men have appeared in court facing charges of operating an unlicensed foreign currency transfer business, in breach of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) regulations, in a case linked to an alleged illicit cash network valued at over US$500 000.
Taurai Chivanga (38) and Blessing Chinhanga (34) were arrested this Thursday following an operation by detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Asset Forfeiture Unit under “Operation Iron Net”, which targets illegal cash and foreign currency dealings.
The court heard that detectives acted on a tip-off, leading to the arrest of Chivanga at Century Mall, where more than US$30 000 in cash and several mobile phones were recovered.
Chinhanga was later arrested at Zimpost Mall in Harare, where he was allegedly intercepted while facilitating a cross-border payment for a client.
Prosecutors allege that the two were running an unauthorised money transfer arrangement commonly associated with the Hawala system, collecting cash from clients before processing payments for imported goods outside formal banking channels.
The State further alleges that the pair routinely handled large volumes of cash outside regulatory approval, with transactions under investigation estimated to exceed US$500 000.
The accused were granted US$500 bail each and are expected back in court on June 25.
