Ex-Zimbabwe mayor arrested with 120kg of ivory

Author: AFP | Update: 11.03.2019 00:00

A former mayor of Zimbabwe's tourist hotspot Victoria Falls was caught with nine elephant tusks weighing 120 kilograms (264 pounds) and arrested with two other suspects, police said Friday.

A former mayor of Zimbabwe's tourist hotspot Victoria Falls was caught with nine elephant tusks weighing 120 kilograms (264 pounds) and arrested with two other suspects, police said Friday.

Sifiso Mpofu, 42, was elected mayor in 2013, serving until July last year when he lost to an opposition candidate.

He was arrested on Thursday night at his house in Mkhosana township, police said.

Acting on a tip-off, police and rangers swopped on the former mayor's house and found him and the two other suspects moving the tusks from a car, they said.

Two other tusks were found in a bedroom during a search of the house.

"Information was received that the accused were in possession of raw ivory," according to a police document seen by AFP.

Mpofu -- who is the younger brother of the country's former home affairs minister Obert Mpofu -- has been charged with illegal possession of elephant ivory.

He is expected to appear in court along with his two fellow suspects before the end of the weekend.

Following his election defeat last year he retreated to his game farm, Sifiso Hunting Safaris, which is situated between Victoria Falls and Hwange National Partk, the country's largest game reserve.

The arrest comes two months after seven Chinese nationals were arrested for money laundering and unlawful possession of rhino horn on December 23.

They were caught with more than 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of rhino horn pieces worth nearly $1 million.

The seven, aged between 23 and 35, are in custody and will return to the Hwange regional court next week.

Elephant tusks are highly coveted in some Asian countries, including China and Vietnam, where they are used for jewellery and ornamentation.

The demand has fuelled a boom in poaching and trafficking in Africa. The continent's elephant population has fallen by 110,000 over the past decade to just 415,000 animals, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

25 - 27 March 2019, Cape Town, South Africa - In 2018, ARINSA countries reported preservation orders in the amount of US $529,437,092.15. The ability to restrain, seize and/or attach illicitly obtained assets is a vital part of making asset recovery work effective. Without the power to keep assets safe from depreciation, theft or consumption, it is very likely that the assets will be worthless or non-existent before the final judgement is passed.  

This was the theme of the asset management workshop, which brought 30 (including 10 female) participants together from 15 ARINSA Member States in Cape Town, South Africa from 25 - 27 March 2019. A wide range of practitioners were in attendance representing law enforcement agencies such as tax revenue authorities, police, financial intelligence units, and the attorney general offices of their respective countries.

The 3-day workshop, which was organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, was sponsored by the Department for International Development in the United Kingdom through the Countering Illicit Financial Flows in Africa programme, in order to guide the managers in the establishment of a first-ever asset management manual for the Southern and Eastern African regions.

The importance of interagency cooperation was stressed by participants as management of assets involves three main stages: acquisition, management and disposal. These are carried out by several stakeholders which need to be coordinated by the assigned asset management agency.  

Working in assigned groups, the facilitators guided the participants to draft generic asset management manuals based on best practice and relevance to the ARINSA region.

The workshop agreed that the next steps to be taken in the Asset Management development process would be:

• Consolidating the five generic manuals that came out of the workshop into a three-chapter asset management manual for the ARINSA region;

• Using the manual as a guide, countries will then work on updating existing legislation;

• Countries will then identify suitable candidates to act as dedicated asset managers;

• A follow-up workshop for the dedicated asset managers will be held to solidify asset management principles in the region;

• Upon request, countries needing technical support will be assisted.

The materials from the workshop can be found on the following link. 

Cybercrime Training for Prosecutors and Investigators

Electronic evidence is often thrown out of the courts by the judiciary due to lack of permissibility and attribution (the linking of a digital action to a person), yet on average an internet user leaves a footprint in at least 30 places on devices, networks and the internet” the workshop was told. Anecdotal evidence suggests that damage caused by cybercrime worldwide is getting to 6 trillion a year. Most companies are affected by cybercrime yearly, but they do not report to authorities for fear of reputational damage.

15 ARINSA countries attended this cybercrime workshop which was held in Windhoek, Namibia from 18 – 20 February 2019. The countries included, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Swaziland, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 34 participants (14 female) represented their countries’ cybercrime investigation divisions.  Despite the advances in technology, the cybercrime legislation has not been updated in line with these advancements. In addition to that, only half of the countries in attendance indicated that they had cybercrime legislation.

‘ABCs for investigating cybercrime - Assume nothing – Believe nobody – Check everything’ was the theme echoed throughout the workshop as participants dealt with different case scenarios presented to them for group work and discussions.

Participants gained various skills ranging from management to operations when dealing with cybercrime. Some of the skills learnt were on how to browse the internet safely using tools such as password keepers, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and many other various free online network tools which assist in reducing the digital shadow (i.e. the digital footprint left on the internet that you will never get to know of and cannot control).

Over the course of the three days participants who were mostly managers in their divisions, looked at various topics which included:

-          Introduction to cybercrime

-          How we communicate digitally

-          Cybercrime investigation techniques (cybercrime first responder)

-          Digital forensics

-          Open source investigations

-          Covert Online Investigations

-          Cryptocurrencies

-          Cybercrime Investigation team and resources

-          Managing risk in Cybercrime Investigations

Some recommendation which came out of the workshop included that;

-          The participants from the workshop should form an informal WhatsApp group for sharing and exchanging Cybercrime information

-          The managers must come up with policy documents in the country, on investigation of cyber crime

-          Upon arrival in country, the managers are supposed to identify suitable candidates who are to undergo a train-the-trainers course to be held later in the year.

-          Countries who are Drafting legislation on cybercrime should make use of existing legislation from other countries that already have.

Below is the link to the materials that came out of the workshop.

https://osint.tools/arinsafeb19.zip

UNODC and INL Launch a Guidebook for Game Rangers

Pretoria, 20 September 2018 – A Guidebook that will help improve the quality of evidence available to financial investigators in wildlife crime incidences was launched today by the Secretariat of the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network – Southern Africa (ARINSA).

The manual produced by UNODC with the help of INL, aims to have the wildlife officers who respond to incidences of wildlife crime, know what to look for in order to follow the money chain driving wildlife crime.

“Intelligence and financial investigations are the only way to solve wildlife crimes. Following the money and not just catching the poachers, will stop wildlife crime,” said Mr JP Willemse from the ARINSA Secretariat. “Training the Rangers to ask the right questions will solve the crimes,” he added.

Law enforcement agents, prosecutors, rangers, financial investigators, wildlife crime experts and conservation managers from 14 countries in Southern and Eastern Africa gathered together to witness this event.

Often crime bosses at the top of the chain, go untouched and continue to cause damage while the “poachers” at the bottom of the chain are arrested. This Guidebook enables the First Responders to identify and preserve evidence that can be used by financial investigators to trace the money trail.

The Guidebook comes at a time when environmental issues are high on the agenda with the depletion of abalone and rhino populations in the Southern African region.

High on the agenda was the setting up of a regional training needs in the Southern and Eastern African countries. Delegates then put their heads together to come up with a regional strategy to integrate these training needs into draft country implementation plans to combat wildlife crime.

The delegates noted that the time to focus on the money behind wildlife crime was long overdue. This Guidebook, the first of its kind, will help to provide a solid foundation for financial investigations into the most important driver of wildlife crime through a process of “following the money chain”. By taking away their profits and unlawful assets, the crime syndicates will be hit where it hurts them most – in their pockets.

To download the guide please follow the link below. 

ARINSA contact points hold retreat focusing on asset management and various aspects of seizing assets and  following the proceeds of crime.

International Partnerships on Asset Recovery

Overview and Global Directory of Networks

Seven Chinese nationals in Zimbabwe court over rhino horn stash

They are facing charges of breaching the country’s wildlife laws.

Zeng Dengui, 35; Peicon Jang, 35; Chen Zhiangfu, 30; Qui Jinchang, 29; Yu Xian, 25; Yong Zhu, 25 and Liu Cheng, 23 were arrested two days before Christmas after police raided their home following a tip-off.

Police detectives found pieces of rhino horn stashed in a mattress, plastic bags and in boxes at a house in one of the town’s suburbs.

The seven who are all unemployed, appeared in the dock wearing khaki prison garb at the court in the resort town of Victoria Falls.

Their trial which had been scheduled to start Thursday was delayed to January 9 after prosecutors said they were not yet ready.

Prosecutor Bheki Tshabalala said police indicated they want further charges of money laundering from the case and also mentioned of a charge of theft of a motor vehicle.

Under Zimbabwe’s parks and wildlife laws it is illegal to keep, possess, sell or dispose of any protected animal’s products or trophies.

The rhino horn pieces weighed 20.98 kilogrammes and were valued at $938,700 (823,500 euros), according to the prosecution.

Rhino horns are highly coveted in some Asian countries such as China and Vietnam, where they have fetched up to $60,000 per kilogramme, for their supposed medicinal qualities.

The demand has fuelled a boom in poaching and trafficking in Africa, especially in Zimbabwe’s neighbour, South Africa.

South Africa, which is home to about 80 percent of the world rhino population, has lost more than 7,100 animals over the past decade.

In 2016, wildlife authorities in Zimbabwe said that they had begun dehorning the country’s 700 adult rhinos to curb rampant poaching.

Mozambique charges ex-minister, 17 others in $2bn loan fraud case

At least 18 people, including a former finance minister, have been charged for fraud involving $2bn in loans to state-owned companies in Mozambique, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) has said, in a scandal that has ensnared two major international banks.

"Mozambique AGO is indicting 18 defendants, (ranging) from public workers and other citizens, on charges of abuse of power, abuse of trust, swindling and money laundering," it said in a statement on Monday.

The indictment came days after three ex-Credit Suisse bankers were charged in the United States with fraud over their role in Mozambique's deal in 2013 to borrow money from international investors to fund projects that included a state tuna fishery.

Former Mozambique Finance Minister Manuel Chang, 63, is one of the 18 indictees. He was arrested in neighbouring South Africa last week as part of the same case. He has denied wrongdoing.

The attorney general's office also said it would seek to have those charged in the US and elsewhere face charges in Mozambique, one of the most indebted countries in the world.

Apart from Credit Suisse, Russian lender VTB also arranged financing for Mozambique’s state-owned companies.

The southern African state admitted in 2016 to undisclosed lending, prompting the International Monetary Fund and foreign donors to cut off support, triggering a currency collapse and a default on Mozambique’s sovereign debt. It is still struggling to overcome the resultant debt crisis.

Ex-Credit Suisse bankers arrested over Mozambique loans

INTERNATIONAL - Three former Credit Suisse Group AG bankers were arrested in London on Thursday on US charges that they took part in a fraud scheme involving $2 billion (R28bn) in loans to state-owned companies in Mozambique, a spokesman for US prosecutors said.

Andrew Pearse, 49; Surjan Singh, 44; and Detelina Subeva, 37 were charged in an indictment in Brooklyn, New York federal court with conspiring to violate US anti-bribery law and to commit money laundering and securities fraud, according to spokesman John Marzulli. They have been released on bail in London while the United States seeks extradition.

The arrests came five days after former Mozambique Finance Minister Manuel Chang was arrested in South Africa as part of the same criminal case.

A fifth man, Jean Boustani, was arrested on Wednesday at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, Marzulli said. Boustani was a Lebanese citizen who worked for an Abu Dhabi-based contractor of the Mozambican companies, according to the indictment.

Lawyers for the defendants could not immediately be reached for comment after business hours in New York and London.

“The indictment alleges that the former employees worked to defeat the bank’s internal controls, acted out of a motive of personal profit, and sought to hide these activities from the bank,” Credit Suisse said in a statement. It added that the bank will continue to cooperate with authorities.

According to the indictment, between 2013 and 2016 three Mozambican state-owned companies borrowed more than $2 billion through loans guaranteed by the government and arranged by Credit Suisse and another investment bank, which was not named.

Chang, 63, signed off on the guarantees as finance minister but did not disclose them. When the guarantees were revealed in 2016, foreign donors including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cut off support for Mozambique, plunging the southern African country into a debt crisis that still plagues it two years later.

According to the indictment, the three state-owned companies were created to undertake maritime projects but were really “fronts” for Chang, Boustani and the three bankers to enrich themselves.

Prosecutors said at least $200 million was diverted to the defendants and other Mozambican government officials. They said the defendants concealed the misuse of the funds and misled investors abroad including in the United States about Mozambique’s creditworthiness.

The companies missed more than $700 million in loan payments after defaulting in 2016 and 2017, the indictment said.

Reuters

Cambodia makes record breaking ivory haul at port

Shocking report details massive illegal turtle trade network

A series of recent sting operations has led to dozens of arrests, thousands of reptiles seized

By Dina Fine Maron

In a posh hotel room in Kuala Lumpur, a 35-year-old man wearing a dark button-down shirt smiled. He had two suitcases crammed with 55 live turtles, and he was hoping to make a sale.

He watched as his customer, a man wearing shorts and sneakers, carefully examined the reptiles crawling across the hotel rug.

Bakrudin Ali Ahamed Habeeb, had posted on Facebook some seven months earlier that he had reptiles to sell, triggering a flurry of text messages and price negotiations. Now, Habeeb just needed to prove that his animals were in good health so he could pass them off into the exotic pet trade.

It was May 2017, and he was anticipating a big payday.

When his visitor left the room, ostensibly to get a colleague, Habeeb didn’t even look up. But minutes later, agents from Malaysia’s department of wildlife and parks flooded his room. The would-be buyer, as it turned out, was an undercover agent with the Wildlife Justice Commission, a Hague-based nonprofit that works to expose the criminal networks behind the illegal wildlife trade. Local law enforcement officers had been waiting in the next room to nab Habeeb as he made an illegal sale of black spotted turtles, which are found in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh and are barred from international trade because of the species’ protected designation under international law.

Based on the evidence provided by the Wildlife Justice Commission and described in a report published December 6, Habeeb—an Indian national who had long been smuggling reptiles from India to Malaysia—was sentenced to 24 months in prison. He was one of 30 individuals arrested during a two-year investigation by the commission into reptile smuggling.

The investigation led to the seizure of more than 6,000 turtles and tortoises—many of them endangered species. Thirty people were arrested for smuggling these reptiles through Malaysia, India, or Bangladesh. Five of those individuals, all in Malaysia, have already been convicted and are serving prison sentences.

In the most extreme case, “over a thousand Indian star tortoises were seized in one sting operation in Kuala Lumpur, and two people were arrested,” says Sarah Stoner, senior investigations manager at the Wildlife Justice Commission and lead author of the report. One of those men is now serving 24 months in prison. The other failed to show up in court, and there’s an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

The commission’s investigations focused primarily on Southeast Asia, the pet trade destination for many of these turtles and tortoises, but it also encompassed areas as far-flung as Cameroon and the Netherlands. Collectively, according to the commission, the turtles offered to the agents were worth $3 million wholesale and much more on the retail market.

Dozens of investigators, analysts, and undercover workers found that in most cases the turtles and tortoises were being smuggled from India, Pakistan, and Madagascar to buyers in mainland China and Hong Kong. Top species offered included ones that are considered vulnerable because of their dwindling numbers, such as the Indian star tortoise and the black spotted turtle. Investigators were also offered more than 1,500 radiated tortoises—a species native to Madagascar that’s considered critically endangered and is prohibited from any commercial trade under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the agreement that regulates the wildlife trade. (Read about the 10,000 radiated tortoises found in a house in Madagascar in April.)

The report also revealed details about the scale and coordination of the corruption that greases these trades. Airports the animals were most often trafficked through were pinpointed, as were local sources of some of the reptiles. To do that work, the group used the plans smugglers shared with the commission’s “buyers”—describing how products would be moved from one area to another—and compared them against intelligence on meager arrest records at those transit points, essentially corroborating that someone was likely being paid to look the other way.