One week in Harare! The Class-room, the Court Room and Confiscation

From 28 November to 2 December UNODC and the Asset Forfeiture Unit in Zimbabwe colloborated on a workshop on Taking the Proceeds from Crime. This was the latest in a  long list of colloboration between the authorities in Zimbabwe,  UNODC and the ARINSA network.

In 2012, the authorities in Zimabwe worked with UNODC  in drafting and enacting the Money Laundering and Proceed sof Crime Act. This provided Zimababwe with state of the art legislation that included non-conviction based forfeiture.

A number of staff from the National Prosecuting Authority have also attended the Prosecutor Placement Programme. This initiative run in colloboration with the National Prosecuting Authority in South Africa is an intensive course covering all aspects of money laundering and proceeds of crime. The staf from Zimbabwe that attended this programeme now form the nucleus of the Asset Forfeiture Unit.

It is against that background that it should be seen that there would be benefit in delivering training to a wider audience in Zimbabwe itself.

The “National Workshop on Taking the Proceeds from Crime” was a practical exercise based workshop on a case study. It was attended by staff from the key agencies that are involved in tracing the proceeds of crime. The UNODC worked very closely with the Asset Forfeiture Unit in delivering the workshop. The participants worked on

• the mapping of criminal associations,drafting of affidavits,
  • drafting money laundering charges
  •  and the presentation of confiscation cases before a court.

 Having received the training in these areas the participants were asked to put into practice what they had learned. One of the highlights of the week was the court work. The participants presented the case for prosecution, defence and interested third parties based upon the case study that they had worked on all week.

MEANWHILE…

Whilst the workshop was going on in court 14 of the Rotten Row Magistrates’ Court, in Harare, there were two other significant developments.

Firstly, judgment was being delivered in the first money laundering conviction in Zimbabwe’s history.

Secondly, the prosecution of the so-called Boko-Harare gang. This gang of villains that carried out a number of robberies in Zimbabwe for many months before they were caught were being prosecuted. An application will be made to confiscate their assets.

This all represents the culmination of years of cooperation between the authorities in Zimbabwe and UNODC.  This will hopefully will ensure that in Zimbabwe “crime does not pay”.