The officers at Standard Bank, ABSA Bank and Sasfin Bank have been on the payroll of Mohamed Khan, a money launderer working for cigarette magnate and smuggler Simon Rudland, thousands of documents and interviews with Khan’s former colleagues reveal.
These officers would enable dubious money transfers from Khan’s companies and remove evidence from the computer systems, all while getting monthly payments from Khan.
The documents obtained by the I-Unit include ledgers, contracts and emails showing the process Khan and Rudland used. The I-Unit also interviewed Dawood Khan, Mohamed Khan’s brother who helped forge documents; another of Khan’s former partners who we are calling Jimmy to protect his identity; and Khan’s ex-wife Wardah Latief.
Infographic showing how Simon Rudland bribes bank officers.
South African revenue authorities have accused Rudland of evading taxes by selling cigarettes on the black market. “The illicit cigarette trade earns rand cash. So he gets a ginormous amount of rand cash,” fellow Zimbabwean gold smuggler Ewan Macmillan told Al Jazeera’s undercover reporters, who were posing as Chinese criminals looking to launder unaccounted cash. “He has the same problem in legitimising his money as you have.”
Mo Dollars does this for Rudland; cleansing his dirty money using a complicated web of front companies, fake invoices, bribery and gold.
At the centre of this scheme is a set of companies with bank accounts in different parts of the world – Aulion in Dubai, Vantage Leaf in Mauritius, Velmont Valley in Switzerland and Liberty Gold in the United States.
Using fake invoices and identities, Mo Dollars transfer millions of unaccounted dollars in each transaction to these companies, which are run by Rudland’s partners, the investigation shows.
PKSA and Salt Asset Management, which send the money, claim to be doing so in lieu of imports of tobacco, clothes and gold – imports that never actually enter South Africa. “It’s Simon laundering that money,” said Dawood Khan, referring to Rudland. “Money that was not reported through the legitimate streams, and needed to be moved.”
To “move” that money, he said, his brother Mo Dollars bribes influential officers at several South African banks so no red flags are raised during the transactions.
The bribes range from monthly payments to paid holidays and house renovations, according to Latief, Mo Dollars’s ex-wife, and documents accessed by Al Jazeera.
Mohamed Khan's ex-wife Wardah Latief
Mohamed Khan’s ex-wife Wardah Latief saw his money laundering first-hand [Al Jazeera]
‘The most valuable jewel’
Hussain Choonara, who was in charge of the bank’s foreign exchange payments, was listed as receiving $1,600 per month, ledgers maintained by Mo Dollars and his aides show. “Mohamed and Hussain had a magnificent relationship,” Dawood Khan told Al Jazeera. “He would basically ensure that his staff is pushing through this work unquestioned.
“He was like the most valuable jewel or component, if I can put it that way, in Sasfin, to ensure the success of the money being laundered.”
Choonara would also tell Mo Dollars who else he needed to bribe at Sasfin, Dawood Khan claimed. Among them was Lulama Kene, an IT technician who ensured fraudulent transactions were wiped from the bank’s digital system. Choonara left Sasfin in 2019.
Others on Mo Dollars’s payroll included Cheryl Simons, who worked in the compliance office, and Brandon Marshall, the head of onboarding new business customers, the ledgers suggest. Kene and Simons were each paid $800 a month, while Marshall received $3,200 every month. Marshall and Kene have left Sasfin, and the bank suspended Simons after allegations about her role in helping Rudland launder his money first emerged.
“Friday afternoons after lunch they get their money,” Latief recalled. But it wasn’t just money, she said. “He also used to give them holidays overseas. And he used to renovate their houses for them.”
Mohamed Khan
Mohamed Khan, also known as Mo Dollars, was authorised to launder cigarette mogul Simon Rudland’s money [Al Jazeera]
Banking on bribery at the biggies
Mo Dollars also targeted two of South Africa’s three biggest financial institutions with a similar strategy: Standard Bank and ABSA Bank.
Videsh Seeripat, a relationship manager at ABSA, is listed in the ledgers as receiving $800 a month. His job was to open bank accounts in the name of people who were not present to apply themselves, a mechanism that allowed Mo Dollars to start accounts using fake identities.
“He would get the compliance people to sign it off, have another representative sign the document, and claim that all the necessary compliance boxes were ticked,” Dawood Khan said.
At Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank, Vivian Naicker, a senior manager in the compliance division, made sure Khan’s companies received the documentation needed to evade the scrutiny of South Africa’s central bank, Dawood said. Naicker communicated with Khan using a pseudonym, Vic Grimes, according to emails between the two.
“We would then provide him with the necessary documentation. He would then, by himself, set up and complete the application,” Dawood said. “He would then submit it to the Reserve Bank, get approval, which would allow us to facilitate payments without any scrutiny, through any bank.”
Asked for a response to Al Jazeera’s investigation, Simon Rudland told Al Jazeera that the allegations against him formed part of a smear campaign by an unidentified third party. He described himself as “a strong businessman…competing against the greedy and the envious”. He denied any involvement in the sale of illicit cigarettes, in gold or other smuggling and in sanctions busting.
He accepted that he had had dealings with Mohamed Khan, who he agreed “appeared” to be a money launderer, and that Gold Leaf and another of his companies had authorised Khan’s SALT Asset Management to act as their agent, but denied that any form of money laundering had been undertaken for him or any of his businesses. Payments made to Vantage Leaf, Liberty Gold and Velmont Valley had nothing to do with Rudland or his companies, he said.
Gold Leaf said that it emphatically denied any involvement, past or present, in money laundering, the trade in illegal gold or related matters. The company said that no “untaxed” or “illegal” cigarettes could be “attributed” to Gold Leaf, though the proceeds of the illicit sale of its products by others did appear to have been moved between jurisdictions and thereby laundered.
Gold Leaf said its limited transactions with Khan and SALT had always been lawful and proper. Gold Leaf had never made any payment to Aulion, it claimed.
Mohamed Khan told Al Jazeera that all allegations against him were false and were based on speculation, conjecture and manufactured and doctored evidence. He confirmed that he was the owner of the PKSA Group and of SALT and that Gold Leaf was a client of SALT but he denied involvement in money laundering or other criminal activity. He denied bribing anyone who worked in the South African banking sector.
Liberty Gold denied all knowledge of the matters and individuals we featured, while Vantage Leaf denied any knowing involvement in money laundering or false invoicing.
Sasfin Bank told Al Jazeera it was taking vigorous action against suspended and former employees and clients of its foreign exchange unit and said that it no longer had a relationship with any of the businesses identified in this investigation, including SALT.
ABSA said it had passed Al Jazeera’s findings to its Forensic Investigative Unit, while Standard Bank told Al Jazeera it has a zero-tolerance stance relating to fraud and criminality and would report and assist in any legal investigation. Vivian Naicker denied involvement in a money-laundering syndicate.
The other individuals and parties named in the article did not respond to Al Jazeera’s inquiries.They operate from the shadows. Al Jazeera’s latest investigation, The Gold Mafia, brings their crimes out into the open. Last week, Part 1 of ‘Who are the Gold Mafia?‘ dove into the lives of some of Southern Africa’s biggest money launderers and smugglers, from pastors to diplomats.
Now, in Part 2, meet one of the region’s biggest cigarette moguls, a showoff money launderer and their crafty partners who are plundering their nations of money and gold using a web of highly-placed connections, front companies and carefully doctored documents.
Simon Rudland is one of Zimbabwe's richest men and owner of Gold Leaf Tobacco [Al Jazeera]
Simon Rudland
One of Zimbabwe’s richest men, Rudland co-owns Gold Leaf Tobacco, among the largest cigarette manufacturers in South Africa. But in 2022, the South African Revenue Service accused Rudland’s company of selling illicit cigarettes and avoiding taxes.
Al Jazeera’s investigation shows that his web of crime extends far beyond that, to an elaborate money laundering and gold smuggling scheme that helps him hide millions of dollars of unaccounted cash.
Documents and witness statements reveal that Rudland also loans some of his money to Zimbabwe’s government, which is cash-strapped because of Western sanctions. In exchange, Fidelity Printers and Refiners, the Zimbabwe central bank’s refinery, lets his couriers carry millions of dollars of gold to Dubai for sale through frequent trips. “He gives Fidelity the money, to buy the gold, for him to export,” fellow Zimbabwean gold smuggler Ewan Macmillan said in secretly recorded interviews, claiming that Rudland “bankrolls the whole country”.
At the centre of Rudland’s money laundering operations is a company in Dubai called Aulion that buys Zimbabwean gold using his dirty cash. Macmillan claimed Rudland has access to Zimbabwe’s highest-ranking officials, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the head of the central bank. Among Rudland’s business partners are a retired general, a former sanctioned energy minister and a former minister of foreign affairs, the investigation shows.
In 2019, two men attempted to assassinate Rudland, an incident he barely survived. Rudland was shot while in his car, but the culprits were never caught.
Asked for a response to Al Jazeera’s investigation, Rudland told us that the allegations against him formed part of a smear campaign by an unidentified third party. He described himself as “a strong businessman … competing against the greedy and the envious”.
He denied any involvement in the sale of illicit cigarettes, in gold or other forms of smuggling and in sanctions busting. He also denied any knowledge of Aulion and its activities and told us that it was not true that money passed from his accounts to Aulion.
He admitted to dealing with Mohamed Khan, who he agreed “appeared” to be a money launderer, and that two of Rudland’s companies had authorised Khan’s company to act as their agent, but denied that any form of money laundering had been undertaken for him or any of his businesses.
Gold Leaf Tobacco, his company, emphatically denied any involvement, past or present, in money laundering, the trade in illegal gold or related matters. No “untaxed” or “illegal” cigarettes could be “attributed” to Gold Leaf, though the proceeds of the illicit sale of its products by others did appear to have been moved between jurisdictions and thereby laundered.
Fidelity Printers and Refiners denied all wrongdoing.
Mohamed Khan built his money-laundering empire by bribing influential people in several South African banks [Al Jazeera]
Mohamed Khan, aka Mo Dollars
He likes flashy cars, has a weakness for women and is deadly dangerous, Khan’s ex-wife Wardah Latief and brother Dawood told Al Jazeera. Khan, who is known as Mo Dollars, owns PKSA and SALT Asset Management, South African financial services firms that help Simon Rudland and others launder large sums of money through fake invoices and stolen identities.
Khan built his money-laundering empire by bribing influential people in several South African banks to either turn a blind eye or work actively with him on his schemes: Al Jazeera’s I-Unit has accessed bank statements revealing how he pays them off every month.
Dawood said the brothers were poor growing up and often mocked by other children.
Khan loves to show off his newfound wealth: He travels business class, stays in the most expensive hotels in Dubai, and would get Latief all the designer clothes she wanted.
But Khan also has a much darker side. Audio recordings obtained by Al Jazeera reveal veiled threats against his own brother Dawood if he decided to turn into a witness against Mohamed and his clients. “You know what happens, right?” Khan asked Dawood’s wife on a phone call. “They kill you,” she responded. “Exactly,” Khan said.
Mohamed Khan told us that all allegations against him were false and based on speculation, conjecture and manufactured and doctored evidence. Khan confirmed he owned PKSA and SALT Asset Management but denied involvement in money laundering or other criminal activity. He denied bribing anyone.
Howie Baker holding a shot glass next to two unidentified people.
Howard ‘Howie’ Baker
Howard ‘Howie’ Baker is Rudland’s point person in Dubai, the investigation shows. He is the owner of several gold-trading companies, including Aulion Global Trading — the firm at the centre of Rudland’s laundering operations. The company buys the Zimbabwean gold exported by Rudland’s couriers.
It also receives tens of millions of dollars from the accounts of Gold Leaf Tobacco via fake invoices created by Mo Dollars and — earlier — by his brother Dawood. These invoices create the illusion of tobacco imports by Gold Leaf into Zimbabwe that in reality do not exist.
According to Dawood, Baker was considered the “glue keeping everything together”.
Baker, who like Rudland and Macmillan is from Zimbabwe, also is the owner of Rappa Refinery, a gold refinery in South Africa which supplies Aulion with gold, the investigation shows. He did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for a respons
Andries Greyvensteyn is a partner in Aulion Global Trading.
Together with Baker and Mo Dollars, Greyvensteyn is also the director of a South African gold dealer called Gold Kid — whose offices serve as the headquarters of Gold Leaf’s dodgy operations.
It is another company used to move gold and illicit funds. Documents obtained by Al Jazeera’s I-Unit show that Gold Kid was one of the companies Mohamed Khan used to launder money.
Greyvensteyn is also the owner of a company in the United States called Liberty Gold, used by Mo Dollars to launder millions of dollars to the US using fake invoices, documents accessed by Al Jazeera show.
In response to our questions, Greyvensteyn said that he had not knowingly participated in any money laundering scheme. Liberty Gold denied all knowledge of the matters and individuals featured in this report. Gold Kid did not respond to Al Jazeera’s inquiries.
Composite image of six of the Gold Mafia couriers: Peter Bowen, Terence Ian Keith, Patrick Keith, Johannes Swan Jr, Johannes Swan Sr, and Talmage George Alexander.
The Couriers
The gold mafia consists of multiple rival gangs, and each has its own set of couriers. These relatively low-level operatives are the people who move gold and money between different countries. They mostly travel between Zimbabwe and Dubai, carrying dozens of kilos of gold and millions of dollars with them on the trips.
Documents and footage obtained by the I-Unit show couriers such as Patrick Keith, Johannes Swan Sr, Johannes Swan Jr, and Peter Bowen take these trips multiple times per month, each time carrying large amounts of gold and cash back and forth.The couriers did not respond to our inquiries.
