Thread by @TheSentry_Org

1/ Spincash Investments is an apt name for the firm involved in a 2017 mining deal worth $120m that led to a $1m payment to President Mnangagwa's farm & $2m to a firm controlled by Vice President Chiwenga's alleged "investment manager." thesentry.org/reports/spinca…

2/ Zunaid Moti, a South African tycoon, bought 70% of African Chrome Fields (ACF) in 2014. ACF then hired then vice-president Mnangagwa's son, Emmerson Mnangagwa Jr, as consultant for $5k (later $10k) per month. Moti and his firms deny any wrongdoing. documentcloud.org/documents/2358…

3/ The other 30% of ACF was owned by Spincash; a Moti holding company in which a minority stake was owned by Lishon Chipango, a business associate of Zimbabwe's then Commander Defence Forces, General Chiwenga, who took a close interest in ACF.

4/ Chipango is a director of two of General Chiwenga's property holding companies, including the firm that owned Vice President / General Chiwenga's mansion. One source describes Chipango as "the de facto investment manager for the VP."

5/ In 2015 ACF also entered into a joint venture with Zimbabwe's military, to mine and process chrome together.
View the joint venture agreement: documentcloud.org/documents/2358….
Neither Chiwenga nor the military firm, RNH, responded to requests for comment.

6/ ACF then applied, with the military joint venture, for 'National Project Status' - allowing duty free import of capital goods - and they jointly wrote to VP Mnangagwa in May 2015 for permission to export raw chrome.
documentcloud.org/documents/2358…

7/ In June 2015 VP Mnangagwa helped persuade the cabinet to lift the ban on exporting raw chrome ore ('fines'). Mnangagwa and his son, ED Jnr, did not respond to requests for comment.
documentcloud.org/documents/2358…

8/ In 2017 ACF began negotiating with Overseas Trends Resources (OTR), a firm chaired by Justice George Chiweshe to mine chrome in concessions obtained by OTR in Feb 2017.
documentcloud.org/documents/2358…

9/ A military lawyer, Chiweshe is notorious for chairing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission during the rigged 2008 elections.
Chiweshe denies wrongdoing, and said these were (ultimately unsuccessful) commercial transactions with no conflicts of interest.
reuters.com/news/picture/n…

10/ On November 17, 2017 Kudakwashe Tagwirei, a Zimbabwean oil tycoon and ZANU PF benefactor, bought Spincash's 30% stake in ACF for $120 million. (For the Moti group, the date - during the week-long coup that brought Mnangagwa and Chiwenga to power - is a coincidence).

11/ A money moving operation ensued. During 2017/18 ACF/Spincash paid $130 million to 28 Zimbabwean firms. Moti describes these as loans made at the direction of JayT Global Bureau de Change - which handled these loans.
Some payments went to politically connected entities...

12/ The company that owns President Mnangagwa’s farm, Pricabe Enterprises, received $1 million in December 2017. infomin.org.zw/president-mnan…
Pricabe did not respond to requests for comment.
documentcloud.org/documents/2378…

13/ In Dec '17-Jan '18 ACF paid $2m to Cosmotex Investments, controlled by Chipango & Evelyn Chakuinga, reported to be Chiwenga's niece.
Chipango declined to comment, Chakuinga didn't respond to a request.

14/ In July 2018, ACF sent $1.75 million to Spartan Security which, according to the corporate registry, has a director, Tarirai Munangagwa, who is reported to be President Mnangagwa's nephew.

15/ One article reported that Tarirai had resigned as Spartan's director but accused the firm of forex deals to buy vehicles for ZANU PF.
Spartan didn't respond to a request for comment. Moti group said the payment was unconnected to vehicles.
web.archive.org/web/2023032220…

16/ The Moti group said however that they did separately buy 50 vehicles for ZANU PF's 2018 election campaign but this was on behalf of Tagwirei and was a commercial transaction with the motor division of their corporate group.
Tagwirei didn't respond to a request for comment.

17/ As part of the negotiations with Overseas Trends Resources (OTR), ACF paid Justice Chiweshe $100,000 in Feb 2018. He denies wrong-doing and said he does not recall this payment. View the payment receipt: documentcloud.org/documents/2358…

18/ Justice Chiweshe: “to suggest that OTR is a tool for my personal benefit is in bad taste and simply untrue.”

19/ In total roughly $60 million was paid to companies connected to JayT's directors, while another $60 million went to firms whose records are missing from Zimbabwe’s company registry.

20/ The Moti group says all the $130 million payments were investments and loans to preserve value as Zimbabwe's currency depreciated. The payments were made at the direction of JayT Global, says the Moti group.

21/ JayT says payments were to third parties & suppliers paid at direction of its clients. JayT denies politically connected entities were its clients (except Spartan) and said "if ACF allocated them to our contracts it's a mistake." Read Moti’s response: documentcloud.org/documents/2379…

22/ The $1m payment to President Mnangagwa's farm has echoes of the unexplained cash found at South African President Ramaphosa's farm. As in SA, Zimbabwe should appoint a commission of inquiry tasked with getting to the bottom of the issue.
sabcnews.com/sabcnews/panel…

23/ Read The Sentry’s full report here in English / Shona and Ndebele: thesentry.org/reports/spinca…