Former Intermarket Holdings Limited boss Nicholas Vingirai, who was arrested on Monday, is facing 11 counts of theft and three of externalisation of foreign currency between 2003 and 2004.
Vingirai was arrested at Harare International Airport on arrival from Singapore where he had sought refuge after fleeing the country seven years ago.
The businessman was arrested by detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID)’s Serious Frauds section. CID spokesperson Augustine Zimbili said he was expected to appear in court soon.
“He is in custody and is assisting us with investigations,” Zimbili said. “He will appear in court soon, facing various counts of theft.”
The founder and major shareholder of the now-defunct Intermarket allegedly stole over US$300 000 and over ZW$320 million and illegally exported R1 million and foreign currency worth ZW$300 million without authority from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Vingirai is accused of withdrawing money from Intermarket subsidiaries before purchasing various amounts of foreign currency.
Police believe he would then convert the forex to his own use or channel it out of the country.
Vingirai was one of eight bankers taken off the list of specified individuals in 2009, but he was still on the wanted list for alleged money laundering. He was arrested in Taiwan in August after straying from his base in Singapore and the authorities there revealed they would deport him.
It was, however, unclear whether he was arrested after being deported or if he returned voluntarily. Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau revealed, soon after the August arrest, they had received a tip-off from an unnamed source that Vingirai, a Zimbabwean suspect on the Interpol Red Notice List for years, would be visiting the country and would fly in from Singapore on August 9. They arrested him in Taipei City’s Zhongshan district at a hotel where he was having breakfast.
