What I find amazing is how law abiding citizens are turned into criminals due to regulation and controls.
I was chatting to an old buddy of mine last night who specilaises in moving money around the World. The money that moves under the radar with no questions asked due to harsh Forex regulations. If anyone is going to tell you the state of the economy it is this guy as he only deals in cash.
Many businesses use his service as on many occasions paying for an import order is not always available due to red tape. He has a select group of clientele and the relationships are built with trust. There is so much money involved all being cash and untraceable you don't screw around as these guys are the underworld you read about when things go wrong.
The first time I met him I was helping out another friend who was paying for an additional import from the East which had been denied by the bank. This was due to having one outstanding order with a policy of one order at a time. This made no common sense as he had the funds and his client had requested the goods, yet he was being blocked. The sports bag of cash in the back of the car blew my mind as there is no counting involved and you literally drop hundreds of thousands into the back of the vehicle. Counting is done later and you better have your figures right as you don't short change these guys.
The standard service reflects legitimate movements of money for a standard fee which is cheaper than the bank transfer costs. I have often mentioned to him his business model will change due to crypto and digital currencies. For now though it is business as usual with a mixed bag of clientele from all walks of life. I assume he has a handful of big clients which he services regularly as he is good at what he does as he wouldn't have been around for so long if he had messed up.
Last night he mentioned the business is ticking over but not like 4 years ago as the "extra" money has dried up. Most of his business is the likes of you and me who move money to other bank accounts offshore or inbound. The split weirdly enough is 50/50 in and out across all currencies. From what I can gather is he made it big servicing the farmers in Zimbabwe and most likely government officials who couldn't get their hands on forex.
If you take $1000 or $10 000 to the bank and request to send it over seas the first question is the source of the funds which is normally problematic and why they use his services. Some African countries however don't have any Forex available or a limited supply and he provides the extras funding required. The extra money his regulars always had is no longer flowing like it was from outside and inside the country.
He calls it the internet cafe money doing after hours business and blames load shedding for the 'extras' having disappeared. The extras are now paying for keeping the generators running and not finding the way into his hands. If anyone will know how the economy is doing it is this guy as it highlights if there is any extra cash floating around.
