The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) is still investigating former Finance Minister Tendai Biti over allegations he instructed the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) to deposit millions into two banks which later collapsed.
According to The Sunday Mail, Biti reportedly directed NSSA to deposit US$30 million, which was secured from the Afreximbank (African Export-Import Bank), into Interfin Merchant Bank and Renaissance Bank on separate occasions and under unclear circumstances.
The issues date back to the time when the MDC Alliance vice president was Treasury boss during the Government of National Unity (2009-13).
ZACC spokesperson Commissioner John Makamure told The Sunday Mail that investigators are pursuing the case. He said:
The matter is under investigation and we will make details available once we have completed the investigations.
In 2014, NSSA general manager James Matiza told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts that Biti directed the pension fund to inject US$20 million into Renaissance Bank despite indications the project was not viable.
Matiza said he rejected the requests by Renaissance Financial Holdings Limited’s majority shareholder, Patterson Timba to get the authority to invest in his bank.
Timba is brother to former MDC-T secretary for external relations Jameson Timba.
Matiza said he eventually invested in the bank after Biti directed the NSSA to sink money in the troubled institution.