| #MotiFiles: Moti and the money men

amaBhungane | #MotiFiles: Moti and the money men

Leaked documents show how the Moti Group became enmeshed in huge, possibly illicit, money-moving networks operating in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

In less than a year, well over R2 billion moved through these mechanisms, funds mostly derived from investments by his former partner in Zimbabwe, the politically connected Kudakwashe"Kuda" Tagwirei. We will see how VBS became a bridge between the different role-players in the two countries before the bank imploded in early 2018, suggesting these Moti transactions in Zimbabwe and South African were two sides of the same coin.

And while Moti has defended these manoeuvres as legitimate and separate business deals, he faces one awkward hurdle: despite copious documentation, the partners he allegedly transacted with vociferously deny key aspects of his version., Zimbabwe has become a hub for illicit money flows, with implications for citizens, businesses and governments throughout the region.

As a political storm was gathering, Moti forged an alliance with"Kuda" Tagwirei, a businessman with well-documented ties to Zanu-PF as well as to Mugabe's challenger and the current president, Emmerson Mnanagagwa. In response to a claim that he exercised “effective control“ over Spincash, he told us,"Alleged 'effective control' of anything can also not automatically be equated to a financial interest therein. It is very much possible to 'control' something without having any interest in it."

Both loan agreements vaguely record that the money was for"investments in art, investment cars and… equity investments in private or listed companies". All of this nonetheless set the scene for Moti and his companies becoming progressively larger recipients of cash from Tagwirei. In June 2018, this arrangement was succeeded by a practically identical new loan between ACF and another Chinondo company called Oakland Mining.

First and foremost, the owner of both JayT and Oakland, Patrick Chinondo, outright denies most of these payments ever happened. ACF's cash accounts, also contained in the #MotiFiles leak, duly show the money being paid out under the guise of a"loan payment". The three companies receiving most of this money were called Retoch Investments, Ask and Get It and Kunjani Duty Free Investments.

The system seemingly involved illicit gold smuggling and the notorious Macmillan family, which has most recently been implicated in money laundering by Al Jazeera in its"Gold Mafia" series.Although Moti denies all knowledge of the VBS system, bank records show that it was used to pay millions to his South African companies, seemingly via Chinondo and the afore-mentioned Joe Dollars.

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News24 /  🏆 4. in ZA

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