Van Hoogstraten faces Zimbabwean charges

                      Nicholas van Hoogstraten, the controversial British property entrepreneur, will appear before a magistrate in Harare, Zimbabwe today charged with illegal dealing in foreign currency and possession of pornography.   The tycoon has spent three nights in custody after being arrested at his home in the suburb of Emerald Hill.   Police were following up allegations from a woman tenant at one of his residential blocks in Harare who claims she was forced to pay $8,000 (£4,000) as six months’ rent in advance.    It is forbidden under Zimbabwean law to change foreign currency for local goods and services.   Police are understood to have found sums of money in South African rand during a raid of Van Hoogstraten’s home that violate Zimbabwean currency laws that allow only small sums of foreign cash to be held.   Police are also understood to have found “pornographic material” involving Van Hoogstraten and a 22-year-old woman.   None of the offences carries a jail term.   Van Hoogstraten served 11 months of a 10-year prison sentence for the manslaughter for former business rival Mohammed Raja in 2004 before his conviction was set aside on appeal for lack of evidence.   paul.norman@rbi.co.uk