Zimbabwe's Gono probed over forex scam

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe chief Gideon Gono has been pulled into a scandal in which Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa and chief government revenue collector, Gershem Pasi, are alleged to have swindled the state of millions of dollars in foreign currency.

A Zimbabwean newspaper revealed two months ago that police were probing Murerwa and Pasi over allegations that the two illegally converted to personal use tax money collected in hard cash from foreign motorists entering Zimbabwe mainly from South Africa through Beitbridge border post.

Local press reports said police had now widened their investigations to include Gono who they believe assisted Murerwa and Pasi to siphon the state funds when he was chief executive officer of the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ) before his appointment as governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).

A senior officer at police general headquarters, who spoke on condition he was not named, was quoted on the Zim Observer's website saying: "Not only was he (Gono) the CBZ boss. At times money collected as taxes, particularly in South African rands and Botswana pulas was surrendered to his office from where employees were told it would be banked."

"We want to know the role played by Gono in opening and managing these accounts," the report quoted him as saying.

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