Africa-Press – Eswatini. Neal Rijikernberg, the Minister of Finance has been linked to the shady establishment of the now controversial Farmers Bank, AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism quoting a comprehensive report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists(ICIJ) reported this week.
This comes after a high level investigation by the Eswatini Financial Intelligence Unit(EFIU) produced a report about two(2) Canadian brothers John Paul and Alexandre Asfar allegedly linked to the Finance Minister.
The two(2) brothers seemingly, appeared out of the blue on the scene in Eswatini, looking to establish a bank, the report and other financial documents were leaked to the international journalists.
It has been reported that, in October 2020, after the Farmers Bank failed to meet the conditions of its license, the Central Bank of Eswatini(CBE) notified both Farmers Bank and the new Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg, of its decision to revoke the license “on the basis that Farmers Bank had failed to satisfactorily demonstrate the source of its seed capital and that it had failed to commence operations within the prescribed twelve-month period.
But two(2)days after learning its license had been revoked, the investigative report suggest that on 7th October 2020, Farmers Bank notified Neal Rijkenberg of its intention to appeal the Central Bank’s revocation of its license.
The report,quoting previous media reports, further alleged that when the appeal was lodged, Rijkenberg, who as Finance Minister would normally have heard the appeal, recused himself.He appointed the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo,to adjudicate the matter.The reports did not include Rijkenberg’s reason for recusing himself.
When asked by the team of international journalists, the Finance Minister denied being part of the Farmers Bank without disclosing why he recused himself in the appeal.
“I have never had any personal interest in FB.They rented a building in a town called Bulembu to use as a bank one day, I am one of the founders of an orphanage that runs Bulembu and was on the orphanage board. Due to there being a link to FB before I became a Minister of Finance, I felt it best to recuse myself,” said the eSwatini Finance Minister as quoted in the report.
It has been further reported that,in December, Commerce Minister Mancoba Khumalo who was appointed by Rijikernberg to preside over the appeal, determined that Farmers Bank should retain its license and that there was no compelling reason to doubt the source of funds.
“The CBE objected to the unprocedural way in which the appeal was conducted, specifically that “the appeal was conducted in the absence of the regulations governing the process”-a claim backed up by the Kroll report.Beyond that, the Kroll report cast doubt on Khumalo’s idea that there was “no compelling reason to doubt the source of funds” by demonstrating in detail the inconsistencies and omissions in Farmers Bank’s explanation of the source of its money, in addition to the lack of transparency in the bank’s corporate!structure.Nevertheless, in January 2021, the month after Khumalo’s ruling, the CBE reluctantly reinstated Farmers Bank’s license, conditionally, giving Farmers Bank until January the following year to begin operating and insisting that it provide “financial statements of all individuals and companies directly or indirectly linked to the initial capital” and three months’ bank statements from all bankers of the bank’s main shareholder, Alexandre Asfar”, reads the AmaBhungane report in part.
But after the Central Bank requested the documents including financial statements,Farmers Bank went on to request a nine(9) month extension.
The CBE gave it only two and cautioned that it had still not provided documents to substantiate the source of its initial capital.In February 2022, Farmers Bank wrote to Rijkenberg seeking his intervention in the “impasse” with the CBE.It is unclear what,if anything, Rijkenberg did, but just two weeks later the CBE changed its position and allowed an extension to September 2022”, reads the report in part.
The comprehensive report by the team of highly skilled investigative under the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists(ICIJ) further exposed other high profile people including King Mswati on shady dealings particularly gold smuggling and alleged money-laundering.
It is alleged that the Finance Minister interfered on numerous occasions as the Central Bank of Eswatini(CBE) questions the credibility of the Farmers Bank.
“There are several records in the leaked documents linking Farmers Bank to the finance minister, creating at least the perception of a potential conflict of interest.A March 2019 import permit for Pentillion-the company that would hold the bank’s reserves in silver bullion-gave the company’s address as Usutu Mill in Bhunya.The mill is owned by Montigny, a forestry company that Rijkenberg founded in 1997 and which he still has a stake in.Bank statements also reflect various payments involving Rijkenberg and the non-profit he founded, Bulembu Ministries, and entities linked to Farmers Bank.The payments were relatively small but showed a link between the finance minister and those behind the bank.Bank statements from 2019 to 2021 show that both Worldwide Capital Corporation and Pentillion-two of the companies tied to the Asfars-made multiple payments of differing amounts to Bulembu Ministries. These were usually several thousands of rands.And bank statements reflect one payment to Worldwide Capital of R13,500 on 29 March 2021 referenced “Neal Rijkenberg”.Rijikernberg’s name also appeared as a reference on a 29 November 2019 payment of R11,000 to Farmers Bank chairperson Nhlonipho Dlamini who, while employed at Farmers Bank was also being paid monthly on retainer by Montigny-owned Usutu Forest Products as a “consultant”, reads the report in part.
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