Farm & City boss arrested for forex exchange manipulation

Source: Farm & City boss arrested for forex exchange manipulation – NewsDay Zimbabwe

BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE

CFI director Chester-Noel Mutevhe has spent two nights in jail for contravening and manipulating the Exchange Control Act.

Mutevhe was arrested on Wednesday and was supposed to appear in court yesterday, meaning he has failed to appear in court within the prescribed 48
hours.

Allegations are that Tanaka Hofisi, acting in common purpose with Matevhe and Shingirai Norman Chibanguza, who are also directors at CFI and Farm & City, pegged the price of a five-litre multi-clean liquid using black market rate of US$1:$184 against the government-approved exchange rate of US$1:ZW$88.

The State further alleges that on October 7 this year, John Marshall Chinembiri and Tanaka Lincoln Sanyamahwe from Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Financial Intelligence Unit went to Farm & City situated in central Harare and bought a five- litre multi- purpose liquid for $613,60.

Sanyamahwe went back again and was allegedly sold the same product for US$3,33.

The two RBZ investigators were issued with point of sale receipts to this effect at a rate of $184 per US$1 against an auction exchange rate of $88,5532 per US$1 published on October 5, 2021.

This prompted the matter to be reported to the police and the subsequent arrest of Hofisi, who is now on $30 000 bail.

Statutory Instrument 127 of 2021 prohibits the selling, display and offering of goods and services for sale at an exchange rate above the auction rate in
Zimbabwe.