Harry girl's father probed over safari slaughter



By Basildon Peta in Johannesburg and Cahal Milmo
Last updated: 04/21/2006 07:09:23
THE father of Prince Harry's girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, is facing financial disaster and possible imprisonment after the Zimbabwean government announced that it was investigating him for illegal currency dealing.
Charles Davy has accumulated a multimillion-dollar fortune through his big game hunting business, HHK Safaris, which survived the wholesale seizure of white-owned farms and game reserves under the regime of Robert Mugabe.

But any protection once extended to Davy's company through his business relationship with Webster Shamu, a senior minister in the Zimbabwean government, seems to have evaporated. The country's anti-corruption minister, Paul Mangwana, announced Thursday he was placing the South African-born entrepreneur under investigation for the illegal export of large sums of foreign currency.

Davy's close links to Mugabe's government have been the cause of unease in Britain after the two-year relationship between his 20-year-old daughter, an undergraduate at Cape Town University, and Prince Harry was made public. Officials are known to have expressed concern that, if the love affair heads towards marriage, any links between the Royal Family and the Mugabe regime would be unthinkable.

Davy, whose company has prospered from charging mostly American clients £17,000 for a 24-day shooting expedition in the Zimbabwean savannah, has recently distanced himself from HHK by selling his holding in the company.

The Zimbabwe investigation is thought to have been sparked by an HHK employee, who alleged much of the firm's foreign currency earnings were being channelled outside Zimbabwe and traded illegally.

It follows remarks made to an undercover reporter for a British Sunday newspaper this month by another HHK worker in which he appeared to confirm the vast majority of the company's earnings were diverted away from Zimbabwe into American bank accounts.

Ade Langley, a professional hunter working for HHK, told the Mail on Sunday: "Less than 20 per cent of your dollars will ever enter Zimbabwe. All the money is kept offshore."

It also appears that Davy's contacts within the Mugabe government, mainly Webster Shamu, the minister for policy implementation, are unhappy with how he has run the affairs of the company.

Davy has been the subject of questions about how his business has survived during a purge which has seen the number of white-owned businesses in Zimbabwe fall from 4,500 to 350 in the last decade.

The safari owner recently issued a robust defence of his relationship with Shamu, a long-term ally of Mugabe and a shareholder in HHK, saying he considered him a personal friend and denying that he had any political input.

An HHK official, Graham Hingeston, claimed that Davy was no longer a shareholder of the business after disposing of the equity that has helped him earn an estimated £20m. And Hingeston also claimed to an American hunting magazine that Shamu was never a joint venture investor but just a "front man" - Independent, UK
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Government investigates favoured tycoon Davy for shady forex deals

By Tererai Karimakwenda
21 April 2006

The business tycoon and father of Prince of Harry’s girlfriend, Charles Davy, is reported to be under investigation for allegedly dealing in large amounts of foreign currency illegally. Davy is one of the few white businessmen that had been spared by Mugabe as the government seized white-owned businesses. HHK Safaris, his game hunting and safari business in Zimbabwe, has made him a fortune and is considered one of the largest ventures in Southern Africa. It had continued to prosper due to his well-known ties to officials in the ruling party. But now he seems to have fallen out of favour with the Mugabe regime. The allegations are believed to have been triggered by a disgruntled black employee who alleged that Davy was channelling much of the company’s forex earnings outside Zimbabwe.

Journalist Basildon Peta of The Independent newspaper group told us there is a network of corrupt ZANU PF officials who benefit from their ties to some of the remaining white businessmen and farmers. Davy’s links to cabinet minister Webster Shamu are no secret. Peta said there are other officials involved with Davy but he could not reveal their names yet for legal reasons. He believes Davy must have fallen out of favour with his connections somehow, and is believed to be out of the country at the moment.

It is possible Davy may be trying to avoid being detained for a long time while the investigation is underway. Legislation pushed through parliament by ZANU-PF allows a suspect to be held for up to 21 days without bail. But other officials like former finance minister Christopher Kuruneri were held illegally for more than a year. Peta said people like Davy are shrewd and expedient businessmen. They target a few officials whom they keep happy in order to survive.

Peta pointed out British tycoon Nicholas Van Hoogstraten as another example. Van Hoogstraten has a large diverse business empire in Zimbabwe and has publicly acknowledged his support of Mugabe and the ruling party. Peta said this is the only way for him to survive. An official from HHK is reported to have claimed this week that Davy no longer had shares in the business. Peta believes this is Davy’s attempt to distance himself as the investigation continues.

We were unable to reach Charles Davy for a comment. He is believed to be in Mozambique or South Africa where he has other businesses.

Distancing itself

Nelson Banya News Editor

In what could be a blatant case of influence peddling, a safari operator has revealed that Policy Implementation Minister Webster Shamu - whose involvement with the HHK Safari company has been the source of controversy - is just a “front man†in the venture who does not own any shares. Shamu’s association with Charles Davy of HHK has focused the spotlight on the company, with calls from both the United States and United Kingdom — regular feeder countries for Zimbabwe’s multi-billion dollar hunting industries - that the safari company’s operations be put under sanctions that have been slapped on government and ruling Zanu PF officials and their businesses. However, HHK managing director Graham Hingeston, who claims Davy is no longer a shareholder in the business, has sensationally told a US hunting journal, The Hunting Report, that Shamu was never a joint venture partner in HHK as has previously been reported. Instead, the senior Zanu PF politician’s involvement was as a token of indigenisation, Hingeston revealed.

“In 1999, HHK Safaris wanted to purchase the hunting rights for Chirisa off Ingwe Safaris, which had purchased the lease on auction in 1994. In order for Ingwe to be allowed to participate in the auction, they had to have an indigenous partner, and this person happened to be Webster Shamu (remember - this was in 1994, a long time before any sanctions were enacted). Ingwe successfully purchased the area on the auction and entered into an agreement with Mr Shamu whereby he received a nominal fee for acting as the front person. The company which held the lease was called Famba Safaris. Mr Shamu signed an agreement abdicating all rights to the Chirisa safari area in terms of management, profit sharing, etc. Understand, Mr Shamu invested not one cent of his own funds into the deal, which is why he was quite happy to sign any agreement,†Hingeston wrote in an e-mail response to The Hunting Report. Shamu has, however, dismissed the assertions as “nonsense.†“Do not be misled. How can he say that? Ndinoita shareholder asina chaakaita?†Shamu protested.

He said he had founded Famba Safaris together with a business associate, the late Richard Makore. “Go to Parks (the Department of Parks and Wildlife Management) and find out when we bought Famba. We bought it and then Richard passed away. His wife assumed ownership of the shares, which she only sold when she relocated. I hold 60 percent of the shareholding in Famba,†Shamu said. Asked about the relationship between Famba and HHK, Shamu said the latter was just a marketing company. He said: “HHK is a marketing company. When you want to sell your quotas you go through a marketing company, that’s all there is to it. You have to realise that when we entered this industry, we had no knowledge of how it works, we had to contract professional hunters and marketers.†However, HHK Safaris says it is a safari operator which incorporates Famba Safaris, among others. “HHK Safaris is one of the top safari operators in Zimbabwe with exclusive marketing and management rights to some of Zimbabwe’s finest hunting and fishing concessions, operating over 15 different camps around the country,†the official company website states. The company, which also lays claim to being the largest safari operator in Zimbabwe, incorporates operations from Birmakino Safaris, Bulembi Safaris, Famba Safaris, Mazunga Safaris, and National Safaris.

HHK has come under increasing pressure from sanctions lobbyists, owing to its links with Shamu. The British press has taken a particular interest in the issue after it emerged that Prince Harry was courting Davy’s daughter, Chelsy. A recent report in the British Mail on Sunday carried a widely reproduced article on “the extent of the wildlife slaughter that has made millions for the family of Chelsy Davy, girlfriend of Britain’s Prince Harry.†The report also made allegations of racism, bribery and foreign currency externalisation against HHK. The company has, in recent months, made efforts to distance itself from Davy and, according to The Hunting Report, Shamu. A statement from the company says Davy is no longer a shareholder or director in HHK following some “structural changes†in 2005. “The shareholders of HHK Safaris are Graham and Anton Hingeston and BTC Safaris, represented by Anthony Crick of Bulawayo and Marty Wood of Monticello, Florida. Bulawayo Trading Company Safari Outfitters (BTC Safaris) is a Zimbabwean registered and owned company. “Graham Hingeston is the managing director of the group, while Anton Hingeston and Anthony Crick join as co-directors of the company,†the company announced in a statement posted on its website. Hingeston was said to be “out of signal range†when The Financial Gazette called his office yesterday.

http://www.zwnews.com/print.cfm?ArticleID=14199

A question for you pros. If true that Webster Shamu owns 60% of the shares of Famba Safaris and this comes out during this investigation does this mean that by paying HHK safaris that there is a possibilty that this is a violation of paying funds to a blacklisted person? Its confusing to me..thanks..steve

Isn't this where someone inserts a gratuitous photo of Chelsy Davy?

Steve: I am by no means a "pro", but a few months ago I posted a similar thread regarding HHK and Davy's alleged "unconnection" (my word) with HHK. I truly believe there is a move afoot in Zim (with Mugabe's thugs concurrence of course) to monopolize the hunting industry, drivng the smaller operators out, then drastically raise prices and turn Zim into another Botswana.

One can only hope that Mugabe will DIE soon and Zim is allowed to recover. Here's a thought; put Ian Smith back in power....jorge

quote:

Chelsy Davy?

I wonder why they used the word "probed" in their classy headline?

Thank you Terry!

Jorge, If you read T.Carrs post it looks like someone as their crosshairs on HHK...steve

If Harry ditches her over this, then she's far, far better off.