Tycoon Kuda Tagwirei targeted by scammers offering ‘ghost’ donations

Controversial tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei claims he is being targeted by scammers who are creating imaginary donation offers of tractors under the guise of donations and then later demand funds for fuel to transport the ‘ghost ‘ vehicles.

Sakunda Holdings chief operating officer M Chitambo registered the alert in a statement released on Wednesday.

One of the fraudsters is using a number 0027 81 009 3248 among the syndicate.

Chitambo urged citizens to refrain from doing the purported business with the unscrupulous individuals “who are bent on tarnishing Mr Tagwirei’s image with suspicion of third forces after our investigations.”

‘Please be advised that Mr Tagwirei communicates official business through business representatives from Sakunda Holdings.

“Any programmes meant to the benefit the public are communicated on the organisation ‘s media platforms or accredited media platforms”

Tagwirei presides over a sprawling network of more than 40 companies spanning the oil, mining, banking, logistics, transportation, and import/export sectors.

A US investigative group The Sentry released a report showing how Tagwirei is allegedly using complex corporate structures and seemingly preferential government treatment to build his business empire and enormous wealth.

Here are some of the highlights of The Sentry Report:

• In 2019, Tagwirei paid millions of dollars to a Zimbabwean military-owned company so that Landela Mining Ventures, a company he controlled, could purchase 50% of Great Dyke Investments (GDI), a platinum mine worth hundreds of millions and run as a joint venture with a Russian firm. The payment raises concerns about the abusive and partisan Zimbabwean military’s access to off-budget revenue.
• Tagwirei has relied upon an elaborate network of South African business partners, Mauritian companies, and Cayman Islands funds to conceal his ties to a rash of lucrative mining sector acquisitions.
• Tagwirei is a director of a firm that appears to own 35% of a new, partially state-owned mining company, Kuvimba Mining House, although the Minister of Finance has denied his involvement.
• In the closing years of Robert Mugabe’s reign and just after Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ascent to the presidency, Tagwirei’s Sakunda Holdings received more than $1.6 billion in contracts and procurement deals from Zimbabwe’s government. Other conspicuously well-timed government directives – about importing buses, buying gold, tax breaks, and purchasing water purification chemicals – may have disproportionately benefited Tagwirei’s companies and should be investigated for evidence of his influence on public decision-making.

The United States government placed Tagwirei and his wife Sandra on its targeted sanctions list accusing him of using his relationship with Zimbabwean officials to gain state contracts and receive favoured access to hard currency, including U.S. dollars, and in turn providing items, including expensive cars, to senior officials of the country.

“Since former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s 2017 departure, Tagwirei used a combination of opaque business dealings and his ongoing relationship with President Mnangagwa to grow his business empire dramatically and rake in millions of U.S. dollars,” a Treasury statement said.