Foreigners fleece Reserve Bank

By Lance Guma
26 September 2005

The Zimbabwean reports that Chinese and Nigerian fraudsters allegedly connived with Reserve Bank employees to issue counterfeit fuel coupons worth round US$10,000. The international syndicate is said to have fleeced the central bank of Z$9 billion after papers from one of the major bankers were forged and used to make the coupons.

Accountants and auditors from the bank are being grilled on how the papers were accessed by the criminals. A middle-aged Chinese man walked into the bank and produced the papers requested by tellers. Fidelity Printers was then told to transfer Z$9 billion into an unnamed commercial bank. But when it was discovered that the papers had been forged, the money had already been withdrawn despite new bank regulations which do not allow anyone to withdraw more than Z$50 million a day.

It is quite clear from evidence the fraud has been taking place with help from bank employees. Some staff members have been given days off to facilitate investigations. Police are currently scouring the country in search of the fake coupons. The scheme was introduced by government to enable people to buy scarce fuel using foreign currency but has run into problems given people are now trading the coupons on the black market.