Court saves Zimbabwe banks from litigation

The High Court says people failing to get their money out of banks cannot sue the banks but the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), which has put in place regulations restrictions withdrawals or money transfers.

Justice Emy Tsanga made the ruling in a case in which a Zimbabwean who is trying to emigrate to the United States is failing to get his US$1 million transferred to a US bank account.

In September this year, Kurt Micheal Reitz dragged Standard Chartered Bank of Zimbabwe (Stanchart) to court seeking an order compelling it to transfer US$1 053 143 held in a trust account of his lawyers, Coghlan Welsh & Guest, at the bank.

The money was generated from the sale of his shareholding in a local firm after he decided to divest from Zimbabwe so that he could move to the US where he wants to invest in another business.

It was on the basis of his proposed US$1 million investment that he was given a visa to immigrate to that country.