The documents in possession of this Swaziland News disclose that,Unionlet Limited Eswatini is an alleged shell company and has bank accounts with the First National Bank(FNB) Eswatini.

A shell company is a corporation without active business operations or significant assets,such companies are normally used to disguise business ownership and/or as a conduit for money laundering or tax evasion.

An independent investigation conducted by this Swaziland News uncovered that on or around 2012,Unionlet Limited Eswatini was registered in terms of the Companies Act and,for purposes of general trading in aviation equipment,the company number was R7/37434.

But the suspicious arms deal company then approached First National Bank(FNB) Eswatini Matsapha Branch for purposes of opening a bank account and in the process,a shareholding document known as “Form C” disclosing Roy Douglas Nicolas Fonourakis as a 1% shareholder and Mark St John Ranger with 99% shares was submitted, John Ranger is a resident of the United Kingdom(UK). 

Reached for comments by this Swaziland News on Sunday,Roy Fanourakis,the former King’s Office CEO and Director of Unionlet Limited,denied the allegations but asked not to comment further as the matter “is pending” before court.

“It’s not true that,the company was involved in money-laundering but that’s what they are alleging.I can’t comment further as the matter is pending before court”,said the former King’s Office Chief Executive Officer(CEO).

Efforts to seek a comment from John Ranger,the Director of Unionlet Limited,proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.

It is alleged that,Unionlet Limited Eswatini triggered a high level investigation by the Eswatini Financial Intelligence Unit(EFIU) after suspicious flow of millions within the banking system to it’s bank various accounts was detected despite the fact that,the company had no visible business activities and employees in eSwatini.

But subsequent to the investigation and correspondence between the law enforcement agencies and the Central Bank of Eswatini(CBE) Financial Intelligence Unit,it was discovered that, Unionlet Limited Eswatini was actually linked to Unionlet Limited,a British weapons manufacturer,which manufactures military equipment, including helicopters,vehicles, weapons and ammunition.

As a result,Unionlet Limited Eswatini allegedly received over R200million and part of the money was then transferred to various beneficiaries around the world.

Now,it has emerged that,even though the company was registered with the Eswatini Revenue Service(ERS) it was allegedly discovered that, the company was evading tax through under-declaration of its income to the revenue institution.

But on or around 14th January 2022 and subsequent to a joint high level investigation by the Eswatini Financial Intelligence Unit(EFIU) and the Police Commercial Crimes Unit,Roy Fanourakis,the then Mtfongwaneni Member of Parliament(MP) and former King’s Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and resident of Gundvwini was arrested by the police and subsequently released on bail,Unionlet Limited Eswatini bank accounts were frozen pending further investigations.

Reached for comments by this publication on the subject matter,Mlungisi Makhanya,the President of the People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO) told this publication that,the former King’s Office Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Fonourakis was allegedly purchasing the weapons on behalf of King Mswati and the Tinkhundla regime hence his alleged involvement with the arms manufacturing company.

The PUDEMO President further alleged that,the subsequent arrest of Roy Fanourakis might be as a result of “a deal” went wrong.

“We have been aware for quite some time now of the regime’s usage of a Moosad Operative who is based in Cape Town and another contact of theirs who is based in Centurion in the Gauteng Province,in the procurement of arms that were used to kill our people.Those weapons continue to be used to train Mswati’s mercenaries through the security company of Pienaar.We are further aware of the active role that the recently appointed Commissioner of Police was playing and continues to play, in that regard.We view this as a fight between individuals who were united by their common desire not only to steal from the people through the Government of Swaziland but their desire to procure arms of war that were to be used,were used, and will even be used in future to kill our people for demanding democracy. So we think Fonourakis must do the right thing by coming-out publicly and clearly state what is it that, they established the company for and what did the company do in relation to the procurement of arms. We know that these arms were smuggled in the darkness of the night, some hidden under pretentious names as if they were importing something different”, said the PUDEMO President.

But Percy Simelane,the King’s Spokesperson vigorously denied any involvement of the King in the operations of Unionlet Limited Eswatini or purchasing of guns by the said alleged shell company.

“We find it difficult to comment on a secrete purchase of guns allegedly  done by former Chief Officer in the King’s Office Mr Roy Fanourakis because it was obviously done away from the public eye and was not in conformity with procedure. To the best of our knowledge,for years,Eswatini openly purchased security guns and ammunition,mainly from neighboring South Africa,and documentation was done officially.In the case of the alleged secret purchases of guns from the company in question,we shall,as expected,ever remain on the leeward side of the records there in.Also,our experience is the heads of the three security services in the country shop and recommend gun and ammunition purchases and not the King”, said the King’s Spokesperson when responding this Swaziland News on Sunday morning.

On another note,the documents from the Eswatini Financial Intelligence Unit(EFIU) in possession of this publication and leaked to a team of reputable international journalists,disclose alleged suspicious money laundering transactions by individuals, politicians,high profile businesspeople,private and public companies among others.