THE Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has lifted the assets freeze orders placed against Ambassador Uebert Angel and three others implicated in alleged money laundering by Al Jazeera documentary series.
The FIU is part of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) which stridently rejected allegations by Al Jazeera of being a washing machine for the dirty money from gold smuggling.
The four-part explosive series which premiered on the Qatar-based channel prompted the FIU to react swiftly by ordering an immediate bank accounts and assets freeze in a bid to ascertain whether the main participants had really played a part in money laundering activities as hinted in the film.
The freeze targeted Angel, who made headlines after becoming the most vocal character in the documentary alongside Ewan MacMillan, Simon Rudland and Kamlesh Pattini.
But in an update Monday, FIU director general, Oliver Chiperesa, announced the lifting of the ban after completing investigations.
He said the Unit has since concluded its analysis of the four episodes of the Al Jazeera documentary and determined that there is no good cause for the freezing order to remain in place.
“The FIU has not identified transactions/assets linked to money laundering and related financial crime connected to the allegations in the Al Jazeera documentary,” said Chiperesa.
“In view of the above, the FIU has directed financial institutions to unfreeze all the accounts and other financial assets that had been frozen pursuant to the directive of March 31 2023.”
The unfreezing action is however, without prejudice to any further investigations that law enforcement agencies may wish to commence or continue against any persons involved.
Acknowledging that some of the allegations in the documentary relate to money laundering and financial crimes alleged to have taken place outside Zimbabwe’s borders, the FIU said, if so requested, it would cooperate with any international investigations against any of the persons or entities mentioned in the documentary.
The FIU said it had exercised its temporary freezing powers to ensure that any illicit proceeds connected to the allegations in the documentary would not be dissipated or disposed of by the persons concerned and prejudice potential future investigations.
Source – NewZimbabwe
