Sanctions: US blocks couple's US$30 000 transfer
Wednesday, 09 March 2011 20:15
President Mugabe launching the National Anti-Sanctions Petition Campaign
By Walter Nyamukondiwa in Chinhoyi
THE United States Treasury Department has blocked the transfer of US$30 000 to Chinhoyi Municipality by a Uni-ted Kingdom-based couple, saying Zimbabwe is under sanctions.
This latest direct infringement on individuals' econo-mic activities flies in the face of claims that the sanctions are targeted at certain people in Zimbabwe and not the generality of the populace.
The Government has since launched a National Anti-Sanctions Petition Campaign that seeks to tell the West that the majority of Zimbabweans do not support the em-bargo.
A letter from the US Treasury dated January 25, 2011 (case number ZI-428) which is in The Herald's possession said the transfer was blocked because Chinhoyi Municipality's banker, ZB Bank, is particularly specified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Mr Brian Hopper and his wife - who have business interests in Zimbabwe - intended to buy plots at Strathcona Farm in Chinhoyi and made arrangements to pay for them through a transfer from HSBC Bank Plc.
They made a transfer application on December 13, 2010 for the release of the money, but it was turned down by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
A Treasury section chief, Jeanette A Jaeggi, said: "This letter responds to your application of December 13, 2010, to the Office of Foreign Assets requesting the release of the following blocked funds transfer:
Originator: Mr. B Hopper, Hemingbrough, Selby Originating Bank: HSBC Bank Plc Value Date: 12-Nov-10
Amount: US$30 000-00
Beneficiary Bank: ZB Bank Ltd
Beneficiary: MOC Estate, Town Clerk Municipality of Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe.
"HSBC properly blocked this transfer pursuant to US sanctions administered by the OFAC."
The letter goes on to state that under the regulations, a US financial institution is required to "block all wire transfers in which a sanctions target has an interest and that come within the institution's possession or control, even if the institution is an intermediary and an underlying transaction does not otherwise involve a person subject to US jurisdiction."
The money is held in an interest bearing account, but Mr Hopper is prohibited from engaging in any transaction in the property or from exercising any rights, po-wers or privileges in respect of such a property without authorisation from OFAC.
"Once a wire transfer has been blocked, OFAC does not recognise attempts to extinguish the interest of the sanctions target in the transfer by, for example, cancelling the original payment instructions or effecting a second payment to the beneficiary."
Chinhoyi Municipality director of finance Mr William Mandinde confirmed the matter and said blocking such funds seriously affected residents, who counted on the local authority for proper service delivery.
"That money would have gone a long way in alleviating some of the problems we are facing as a council. We were looking forward to having the money as we had already factored it into our plans for the development of the town," he said.
A US-based company recently denied a Chinhoyi University student computer software that she wanted to use for her studies because Zimbabwe is under sanctions.
A few years ago, Africa University indicated it had also had problems with Microsoft, which said it could not supply certain software and programmes because of sanctions on Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans cannot open accounts with PayPal, an online facility incorporating some 100 million individuals and companies.
PayPal - which is based in the US and allows members to trade over the Internet - says the US Treasury advised them not to open accounts for Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe.
Last week, President Mugabe launched the National Anti-Sanctions Petition Campaign.
The petition seeks at least two million signatures of Zimbabweans opposed to the embargo.
Sadc, the African Union and Comesa, among other progressive international groupings, have all condemned the sanctions for their impact on ordinary Zimbabweans.
Comments
This story has already shown
This story has already shown to be a fake. Now, the Herald (http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=687...) is reporting that the official from Chinhoyi, Walter Mandinde, the source for the report, has been suspended:
"Chinhoyi Municipality treasurer Mr William Mandinde has been suspended on allegations of defrauding council of US$71 433."
In the report reprinted above,which our host gives as an example of sanctions "targeted at ordinary civilians", Mandinde states that the Hopper's money, 30,000 USD, would have benefited Chinhoyi:
"That money would have gone a long way in alleviating some of the problems we are facing as a council. We were looking forward to having the money as we had already factored it into our plans for the development of the town"
But, according to the audit report, "Between August 13 2010 to December 17 2010 he stopped banking of cheques amounting to US$79 629,68"
One explanation, and it was the one I favoured when I showed that the story was fake, is that Herald reporters cooked up the story as part of the anti-sanctions propaganda drive. But now another explanation is possible. Could it be that Madinde, under suspicion of fraud, invented the story about the alleged blocking of Hopper's 30,000USD in order to deflect blame?
Just another case of corruption, possibly?
Where is the link
Where is the link between these stories. Please spare The Herald this baseless blame.
The link between these two
The link between these two stories is William Mandinde. It was he who was the source of the fake letter from the US Treasury about the alleged blocking of Mr Hopper's 30,000USD. We do not know if it was he who cooked up the letter, or a journalist on the Herald or someone else.
Mandinde is at the centre of an audit showing the misappropriation of huge amounts from Chinhoyi Treasury; Mandinde is also the source of the Hopper story. I ask if there may be a link.
As far as I remember
As far as I remember he only commented on the issue.
The only source of the story
The only source of the story is the one on this page, a Herald report. It states that the intended recipient of the funds was the Municipality of Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe, of which Mr William Mandinde is, or until his suspension, was, Director of Finance.
So what?
He most likely would have stolen the money if it had not been frozen by US Treasury. This is why he was fighting so hard on behalf of Mr Hopper.
Hilarious. Reason still
Hilarious. Reason still believes the story to be true. That's funny.
Why is it
Why is it that funny? Has the story been proven false.
Good question
Good question. I hope you will be answered and not insulted.
Yes, the story was shown to
Yes, the story was shown to be false a few weeks ago. I will reprint the summary of the evidence again:
the US Treasury appears to have written directly to Mr Hopper, which would not happen. It would be the bank who advised Mr Hopper that he could not make a transaction.
the HSBC in the UK does not have to pass transactions through the US treasury - this is laughable.
There are thousands of transactions from the UK to Zimbabwe every week which are not blocked.
Chinhoyi Municipality are not on the sanctions list and nor is the MOC Estate.
there is no record of a Jeanette A Jaeggi working as a section chief in the Office of Foreign Assets. The only known person of that name is a legal academic who specialises in arbitration law.
There is no backup evidence which would be normal practice - comments from US Treasury spokesman, or HSBC or the Hoppers themselves.
But I will tell you how I know for certain it's a fake. It is so simple it is pathetic. It's the spelling, stupid! This letter, which purports to come from an official at the US Treasury, is written with British spelling, not US! For example:
recognise is spelt with an 's' not a 'z'. Similarly, "authorise" is spelt with an "s" not a "z". Americans spell cancelling with one 'l'. Also, the date of the transaction is given as 12-Nov-10, which is the British style. Americans put the month first, as in Nov-12-10.
So the letter was written not by an American, but by a writer trained in English spelling, such as is taught in Zimbabwe and used by our host, Taurai and others.
I think this is irrefutable
Intresting
Your argument is interesting but you are neither qualified nor informed enough to be the authentic person to declare the letter false. Who said an English trained person cannot work in the US?
First, you have no idea what
First, you have no idea what my qualifications are. Second, you say I am not informed enough, but you cannot say what information is incorrect. You have no argument to counter what I say except the weak comment that an English trained person maybe working in the US. That one is easy, though, since the official letter states the date in the English style. If that weren't enough, Jeanette A Jaeggi, the supposed official, gives her name in the American way, including the middle initial. As I said already, this very unusual name is not recorded among staff at the US Treasury, but is the name of an academic lawyer in the US.
If you think the letter is genuine, state your case
Yes I have no idea
Yes I have no idea what your qualifications are and unless you yourself think it is necessary for this forum to know those qualifications, I honestly do not care to know. However, if you do introduce youreself as a US Treasury Official then we may try to verify that and determine the authenticity of your claims.
You need to tell us your sources for claims that the author of the letter does not exist at US Treasury. As it is you submit unsubstantiated claims.
What remains a fact is that the US Treasury and the US Embassy in Zimbabwe chose not to respond to this. Usually the US Embassy in Zimbabwe responds to media reports they view as inaccurate. They did not respond when the Africa University blocking of computers were made by the Univeristy, which claimed the whole consignement of computers was blocked by US authorities because they were deemed "destined for a sanctioned country".
They did not respond when Chinhoyi University made similar sanctions claims involving Pay Pal refusing the University permission to pay for goods on the same sanctions basis.
They did not respond when the Hopper story came out and I was talking to a Zimbabwean employed by the US Embassy in the media section yesterday about this and the answers I got were quite intersting.
Transactions through HSBC UK
Transactions through HSBC UK would have nothing to do with the US Treasury as it is a British Bank. It's fake.
Really?
http://www.hindustantimes.com/US-wants-HSBC-to-reveal-American-tax-dodge...
http://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/3/personal?home=personal
These links show you that HSBC is in the USA as well and it is very well regulated by US Treasury.
You're not very clever are
You're not very clever are you Treason. No one doubts HSBC are in the US. Any idiot can google their home page and see the location of HSBC branches in the US. They are a truly global bank. However the transaction was originated in Selby, UK. And a UK branch of HSBC is most definitely not under US regulations. This point alone proves the letter to be fake.
You are frivolous
You frovolously running for cover. Even NGO personnel's salaries have been blocked in the US.
This guy never stops lying!
This guy never stops lying! He thinks a second lie here will make his first lie more believable. You can only shake your head and laugh.
Reason is just trying to
Reason is just trying to change the subject with some made up story thats not even relevant to the HSBC transaction. No logical argument. A totally irrelevant response.
The logical
The logical argument is that the letter has nit been contested.
There are 7 separate lines of
There are 7 separate lines of evidence to show that the story is a fake. This could take time...
Is it fake
Prove it. No jumping around.
Who's jumping? The reasons
Who's jumping? The reasons for the story being fake are clearly listed above...
You are making a habit of falling for fake stories! So funny!
You are jumping around
You are jumping around and all you are doing is showing your desperation.
There are 7 clear reasons why
There are 7 clear reasons why the story is fake. You are running from these like the plague! Your inability to refute the arguments presented, and your persitance at changing the subject and attacking the messenger merely shows even further that the story is fake.
The story is not fake
The US Embassy in Zimbabwe has said they do not comment on such matters.
Someone not commenting does
Someone not commenting does not make a story true. All this overwhelming evidence that the story is fake, and all you have is that the US embassy didnt comment?! haha. Thats so funny! do you realise how stupid that is?
In fact
In fact they commented by saying that they cannot comment.
Which is no comment. Thats
Which is no comment. Thats all! Your argument is ridiculously weak!
No comment
No comment carries with it a meaning deeper than no comment.
Aaaah thats your argument!?
Aaaah thats your argument!? haha... so funny.
That is it may
The story stands uncontested.
Its contested by those 7 very
Its contested by those 7 very well made points above. I could make a claim here that that Mugabe has raped his daughter. He hasnt contested it so it must be true right? haha. That argument is so so weak.
And making some up, thinking
And making some up, thinking Jacqueline Zwambila here... ha ha ha
7 lines of clear concise and
7 lines of clear concise and logical argument to show it's fake. Nothing to prove it's real. I know what I believe.
Why is it
Why is it none of the affected people have contested the report?
Why cant you address the 7
Why cant you address the 7 points raised, particulary the one that questions why a UK-Zim transaction would go through the US...
It is the Hoopers
It is the Hoopers who live in the UK. The story never said the transaction was done in the UK. You are saying that and we have ignored you long enough on this one.
The story says very clearly
The story says very clearly that the Originators are from the UK! Very clearly!The story is fake!
Does that mean
Does that mean the transaction also originated in the UK?
There is no evidence to
There is no evidence to suggest otherwise. There are 7 pieces of overwhelming evidence to show this story is fake! Its great.
The Hooper's (Brian and his
The Hooper's (Brian and his anonymous wife) bank is given as Selby, in Yorkshire, the nearest big town to where they are supposed to live which is in Hemingbrough. It was the Selby branch of HSBC which did the alleged transaction. It's all in the story you posted. There is simply nowhere to run on this one, is there?
HSBC UK is a separate
HSBC UK is a separate division of the bank. Private transactions from the UK to Zimbabwe have no connection with the bank's US division. Nice try, but no.
The US treasury has a very
The US treasury has a very good search engine covering millions of documents. Names of the 135 staff working at OFAC come up numerous times, particularly those in positions of seniority. If Jeanette Jaeggi was a section chief, as is claimed, her name would be sure to emerge somewhere. It does not. In addition, searches of professional databases, social networking and other person searches show consistently one person in the US by the name of Jeanette A Jaeggi, and she is a academic lawyer in Pennsylvania. Again, a section chief at the US treasury would be certain to show up somewhere. But no results.
If you or anyone else can find this treasury worker, they are welcome to try. I say there is no-one of that name at OFAC. Prove me wrong.
If the US Embassy responded to every single news story about the US in the Herald, they would be doing nothing else and would need a huge staff to research it all, such is the prevalence of stories critical of the US so it is not significant that they didn't respond.
I would be interested to know what your contact at the Embassy said.
You have not challenged my other evidence, but try this:
The alleged recipient of the funds, Chinhoyi Municipality, is not on the OFAC sanctions list, so there would be no cause for the US Treasury to block a payment to this entity. In addition, the alleged sender, Mr Hopper, is not a US citizen, so US sanctions do not apply to him anyway. He, a resident of the UK, would be dealt with under British regulations. The bank concerned, HSBC, is a London based company with four separate divisions. Transactions through HSBC UK would have nothing to do with the US Treasury as it is a British Bank.
You said in an earlier post that Mr and Mrs Hopper were Zimbabweans. How do you know this? What is Mrs Hopper's name?
Not only does he still
Not only does he still assumes that the Herald story is true - he also assumes that Mandinde is a thief before he has been found guilty. The only question I raised here was the origin of the fake letter from US Treasury. Was it cooked up by Mandinde, the Herald, or someone else?
I am basing
I am basing my assertion on the allegations levelled against Mandinde.
Embattled Chinhoyi
Embattled Chinhoyi municipality treasurer, William Mandinde, who is facing fraud charges involving $79 000 has been fired.
Most probably he made up this silly story about the "Hoopers" to cover his fraud
http://www.newsday.co.zw/article/2011-06-24-chinhoyi-treasurer-fired
I do not
I do not see how the Hooper story could cover for his crimes.
It is, I agree, a pathetic
It is, I agree, a pathetic effort at forgery. Perhaps money had gone missing in the municipality treasury and he made up a story about how sanctions blocked the payment when, in fact, he had pocketed the money himself. He made a fair assumption that, however ridiculous the story was, if it involved sanctions the Herald would buy it. Bingo.
You need
You need to follow the story through. Then what if The Herald picked it up?