Mozambique: Chinese company accused of money laundering shut down – AIM report

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Mozambique: Chinese company accused of money laundering shut down – AIM report

10:10 CAT | 08 Feb 2023

Screen grab: Miramar

The Mozambican Attorney-General’s Office (PGR) has ordered the closure of a private security company, in the central city of Beira, belonging to a Chinese citizen for allegedly being involved in money laundering.

The company, Panda Segurança, is the second company belonging to the same individual, Jiye Zhuo, which has been closed within the space of two months. The first, the Thian Hai fuel station, was also suspected of money laundering. During the closure of Panda Seguranca, the police seized several firearms.

The PGR has accused Jiye Zhuo of defrauding the state of over 826 million meticais (about 13 million dollars at the current exchange rate) in tax evasion. He is also accused of financing terrorism, forgery of documents, criminal conspiracy, and environmental crimes.

READ: Mozambique: PGR closes company in Beira over alleged money laundering – Watch

The closure of these companies comes after the Government, in coordination with the European Union and the World Bank, had set up a working committee to remove the country from the “grey list’, announced by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for presenting weaknesses in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

“The individual has an Identity Card, where it says that he is a native of Buzi district, in Sofala. On the basis of this card, he obtained various documents, including a driving license that facilitated the opening of ten companies, since 2015”, the authorities say, quoted in Tuesday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Notícias.”

In response to the closure of the company, more than three thousand workers demonstrated demanding two months of back wages. They are unlikely to receive their money, since the current whereabouts of their employer are unknown.

Some workers of the company, when they realized the authorities were shutting down the companies, fled with their weapons. When the authorities went to the ten stations where the company was operating, they found no security guards.

According to the authorities, the main activity of Jiye Zhuo was logging and exporting Mozambican timber to China.

With his forged Identity Document, Jiye Zhuo used to renew his Foreign Resident Identity Card every year, and in some cases giving different dates of birth.

“The absence of this individual does not hinder the investigations”, a spokesperson for the PGR said. “The administration of justice is gathering evidence to hold him accountable, as well as his associates and all those who contributed to his various crimes”.

Source: AIM