"Tagwirei has utilized his relationships with high level Zimbabwean officials to gain state contracts and receive favored access to hard currency, including US dollars. In turn, Tagwirei has provided high priced items, such as expensive cars, to senior-level Zimbabwean government officials", the release said.
As an example, the Treasury Department cited a parliamentary inquiry that revealed government failure to account for $3 billion disbursed from a farm subsidy program in 2019. The program was championed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and financed by Sakunda Holdings, which is controlled by Tagwirei and was also sanctioned, the release said.
Mnangagwa and First Vice President Constantino Chiwenga were previously sanctioned by the United States.
The sanctions were based on a 2003 US executive order titled, "Blocking Property of Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe" that targets corruption, human rights abuses and manipulation of elections, legislation, courts and institutions, the release added.
Sanctions freeze a targeted individual’s assets in the United States or controlled by US persons and generally prohibit business dealings with people in the US, according to the release.
