News / National
Gono in $160,000 bribery storm
30 Jul 2013 at 03:58hrs | Views
A company which supplied Zimbabwe with fuel paid a total of $160,000 into the accounts of the children of Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank, The Daily Telegraph disclosed.
Mr Gono told The Daily Telegraph that the funds had been used solely to relocate his twin daughters, Pride and Praise, and his son, Passion, to Singapore and Malaysia after they were forced out of Australia.
He added that it had been necessary to pay the funds from a "UK source" and the Reserve Bank had reimbursed the money on his behalf, saying: "In my 36 years of working, I am yet to ever receive a bribe from anybody and I'm not about to do so now or in future. The same applies to my family."
The Reserve Bank had repaid Ravenscourt "via a specific transfer", said Mr Gono, and the relevant documents were available for inspection at the bank's headquarters in the capital, Harare. Asked to supply the documents, he replied: "Which bank on earth can ever part with documents unless there is a court order? The Bank of England would never do that." He added that his terms of employment encompassed such financial support for his children.
The funds were transferred from Ravenscourt's UK account at a London branch of Habib Bank AG Zurich. Mohamed Iqbal Mahmed, the director and part-owner of Ravenscourt, said the UK Financial Services Authority had examined the company's account with Habib without imposing a freeze.
"I categorically and unequivocally state that they [the payments] were not bribes or inducements to obtain favours from anyone," said Mr Mahmed. "Had there been any irregularity relating to these payments, there can be no question that the Ravenscourt account would have been frozen."
Mr Mahmed did not say why the payments to Mr Gono's children were made. He did not say that the Reserve Bank had reimbursed them.
Mr Gono told The Daily Telegraph that the funds had been used solely to relocate his twin daughters, Pride and Praise, and his son, Passion, to Singapore and Malaysia after they were forced out of Australia.
He added that it had been necessary to pay the funds from a "UK source" and the Reserve Bank had reimbursed the money on his behalf, saying: "In my 36 years of working, I am yet to ever receive a bribe from anybody and I'm not about to do so now or in future. The same applies to my family."
The funds were transferred from Ravenscourt's UK account at a London branch of Habib Bank AG Zurich. Mohamed Iqbal Mahmed, the director and part-owner of Ravenscourt, said the UK Financial Services Authority had examined the company's account with Habib without imposing a freeze.
"I categorically and unequivocally state that they [the payments] were not bribes or inducements to obtain favours from anyone," said Mr Mahmed. "Had there been any irregularity relating to these payments, there can be no question that the Ravenscourt account would have been frozen."
Mr Mahmed did not say why the payments to Mr Gono's children were made. He did not say that the Reserve Bank had reimbursed them.
Source - The Daily Telegraph
