The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure Senior Crime Reporter
Illegal foreign currency dealers are singing the blues following the recent closure of their mobile money agent lines by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).
It is understood that their illegal activities are fuelling the exchange rate volatility.
For the defiant forex dealers, the police have launched a blitz on them, with several arrests already made.
Over the weekend, police arrested suspects that had transformed the vicinity of the N. Richards Wholesalers in Rusape into a hive of illegal money trading activities.
The raid restored temporary sanity.
However, the illegal forex dealers are now playing cat-and-mouse games with the law enforcement agents.
Rusape District police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Muzondiwa Clean said while some suspects were arrested, it was difficult to adduce evidence that they were indeed illegal forex dealers. They were therefore slapped with lesser charges of violating Covid-19 regulations and obstructing free passage of traffic along the streets.
“A number of suspects were arrested, but we do not have the evidence that they are illegal money traders. They were charged with unnecessary movement in line with the Covid-19 regulations. They were fined and released,” said Assistant Inspector Clean.
Illegal money traders have been congesting the province’s towns and city as they jostle for clients who would have collected foreign currency from remittance companies.
“Our base was raided and a significant number of illegal forex dealers who were on site were arrested and taken to Rusape Central Police Station. After the raid we are now a bit restraint and no longer move around with huge wards of cash.
“However, this does not imply that we have stopped trading. Dealers are now scattered, unlike in the past when were clustered at one point,” said an illegal forex dealer only identified as Paida.
Another illegal forex dealer who identified himself as Marshal said their ‘business’ is no longer as lucrative as it was before due to fear of police raids as well as the closure of their agent lines.
“Very few people with money are still operating. The big guns had their Ecocash agent lines closed after exceeding the maximum monthly limit of $100 000 set by the Central Bank,” he said.
The majority of financial transactions in Zimbabwe are conducted on mobile platforms, with EcoCash accounting for about 95 percent of the volumes and the remainder by NetOne’s OneMoney.
The RBZ recently suspended some bureaux de-change and micro-finance institutions over suspected illegal forex deals.
This is widely believed to be the driving force behind the increasing prices, which has seen inflation galloping to new record levels.
Econet and NetOne representatives could not be reached for comment by the time of going to print.
