Zimbabwe’s Mugabe latest former African leader to be mentioned in Epstein files

In
an
email
exchange
from
2015
with
Japanese
entrepreneur
Joi
Ito,
the
disgraced
financier
suggested
they
approach
then-President
Mugabe
to
provide
Zimbabwe
with
a
new
currency
after
the
local
dollar
collapsed
because
of
hyperinflation.

FBI
documents
from
2017
also
released
had
unverified
testimony
from
a
“human
confidential
source”,
who
claimed
Epstein
was
a
wealth
manager
for
Russia’s
President
Vladimir
Putin
and
provided
the
same
service
for
Mugabe.

Being
named
among
the
Epstein
files
is
not
an
indication
of
wrongdoing.

The
BBC
has
asked
the
Mugabe
family
for
a
response.

Robert
Mugabe,
Zimbabwe’s
independence
leader
and
long-time
president,
died
in
September
2019
aged
95
–
two
years
after
being
ousted
in
a
coup.

Epstein,
a
well-connected
US
financier
and
convicted
sex
offender,
was
found
dead
in
prison
by
suicide
while
awaiting
trial
on
sex-trafficking
charges
in
August
2019.

He
had
been
convicted
in
2008
of
soliciting
sex
from
a
14-year-old
girl
in
Florida
and
completed
his
sentence
in
July
2010.

The
latest
tranche
of
files
released
by
the
US
Department
of
Justice
(DOJ)
show
the
email
correspondence
between
Joichi
“Joi”
Ito
and
Epstein
that
took
place
five
years
later.

In
response
to
the
email
about
providing
Zimbabwe
with
a
new
currency,
with
the
subject
“fertile
land
for
exploration”,
Ito,
whose
email
address
is
redacted,
asked
if
Epstein
was
friends
with
Mugabe,
to
which
he
replied:
“No,
but
can
easily
get
his
attention,
zimbabwe
would
be
a
great
petrie
dish,
its
also
supposed
to
be
beautiful.”

Ito
resigned
in
September
2019
as
head
of
MIT’s
Media
Lab
over
donations
the
academic
centre
had
received
from
Epstein.

The
BBC
has
contacted
the
FBI
for
more
information
about
the
documents
contained
in
the
recent
release
of
Epstein
files
–
as
the
US
financier
would
have
been
violating
sanctions
had
he
been
Mugabe’s
wealth
manager.

Mugabe
was
put
under
US
sanctions
from
2003
–
and
US
companies
and
citizens
were
prohibited
from
trading
or
conducting
financial
transactions
with
him.

Zimbabwe
and
Mugabe
come
up
in
other
correspondence
in
the
Epstein
files.

An
email
written
in
April
2012
suggested
incorrectly
that
Mugabe
was
on
his
death
bed
in
Italy.

The
sender’s
full
name
and
email
are
redacted
but
the
message
is
signed
off
as
“jonathan”.
He
asks
Epstein
for
possible
contacts
in
the
country,
adding
“they
have
some
great
companies
if
this
guy
is
really
done
whi=h
he
is”.

Mugabe
was
then
88
years
old
–
and
appeared
fit
and
well
days
later
on
his
return
from
Singapore
to
lead
independence
celebrations.

One
of
his
old
allies,
who
asked
to
remain
anonymous,
told
the
BBC
that
such
inaccuracies
suggested
the
information
on
Mugabe
was
fabricated.

Zimbabwe
is
still
governed
by
Mugabe’s
Zanu-PF
party
–
and
struggled
with
inflation
for
decades
following
the
abandonment
of
the
Zimbabwean
dollar
in
2009.

Several
attempts
to
introduce
a
new
currency
failed,
but
a
gold-backed
currency
called
the
Zig,
launched
two
years
ago,
has
managed
to
stabilise
the
economy after
a
shaky
start –
though
many
people
still
rely
on
the
US
dollar.