EU sanctions crackdown adds UK companies to Zimbabwe blacklist – A Berkshire-based businessman and a number of his companies that operate out of Britain are today expected to be added to the European Union blacklist aimed at those said to be keeping Robert Mugabe in power in Zimbabwe.
John Bredenkamp, 68, a Zimbabwean entrepreneur given indefinite leave to remain in Britain, is set to receive personal sanctions from Brussels only weeks after The Times highlighted that he was free to operate despite being put on a US blacklist in November.
A number of companies owned or controlled by Mr Bredenkamp will have their assets frozen from 9am after EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels agreed to step up measures against bodies associated with the Mugabe regime, adding European-based companies for the first time.
According to EU sources, all 18 of the European company names to be added are based on British territory, including the tax havens of Jersey, the Isle of Man and the British Virgin Islands.
The Times understands that they include most of the companies already banned from operating in the US by America’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a list that features 20 companies linked to Mr Bredenkamp.
According to the US Treasury Department, Mr Bredenkamp is “a well-known Mugabe insider involved in various business activities, including tobacco trading, grey-market arms trading and trafficking, equity investments, oil distribution, tourism, sports management, and diamond extraction”.
Asked why someone allegedly linked to the Mugabe regime had been free to conduct his businesses from Britain, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said: “We have been at the forefront of taking forward the sanctions regime. Many of the companies that are listed actually belong to one person or are actually one company, so one has to be careful before one makes allegations. We have been absolutely determined for the European Union to apply additional pressure and that is what we are extending. The important point is, we are determined not to forget about the plight of the Zimbabwean people, which is real and getting worse day by day.”
A British government spokeswoman added that sanctions could only be effective at EU level and insisted that the Government had moved fast to follow up on the US sanctions announced in November.
Mr Bredenkamp has appealed against the US sanctions and his spokesman yesterday dismissed the claim that he was a crony of Mr Mugabe.
His spokesman said: “How come he has had his Zimbabwean passport confiscated by the Zimbabweans and was slung in jail for a few days? He has an emergency travel document that enables him to go to South Africa for medical treatment because he had a quadruple bypass a few years back. It is very difficult to see how that equates with being a crony of Mr Mugabe and Zanu (PF) [Mr Mugabe’s ruling party].” He added: “A number of the companies were dormant and have not been trading for several years. Masters International, a sports management business, has not been trading for ages.
“The point is, they are not big companies. You have all the other multi-national companies in Zimbabwe which are still trading there on a fairly major scale. Mr Bredenkamp’s leisure company is a broken-down golf course in Harare — you would not put a sheep on the fairway at the moment.
“The idea that Mr Bredenkamp has got a major business in Zimbabwe which is funding and supporting Mr Mugabe is wrong.”
Mr Bredenkamp is expected to be joined on the EU list of personal sanctions by Muller Conrad Rautenbach (aka Billy Rautenbach), a Zimbabwean businessman “with close ties to the regime”, according to the US Treasury. It added that he provided logistical support for mining projects that “benefit a small number of corrupt senior officials”.
The personal sanctions are likely to impose travel restrictions on the individuals living in the EU, so that they would be blocked from moving around Europe and travelling outside the EU.
In total, 26 people said to be close to the regime or their families will be added to the EU travel-ban list, bringing the number to 203. The number of companies whose assets in Europe will be frozen will increase from four to 40.
Companies owned or controlled by Mr Bredenkamp on the US Treasury list that are expected to be added to the EU sanctions list include: Alpha International (Private) Ltd; Breco (Asia Pacific) Ltd, Breco (UK) Ltd, Corybantes Ltd; Echo Delta Holdings Ltd; Masters Int Ltd; Piedmont (UK) Ltd; Raceview Enterprises; Scottlee Holdings (Pvt) Ltd; Scottlee Resorts; Timpani Ltd, and Tremalt Ltd.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5594351.ece
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