Jailed tycoon faces seizure of farms in Zimbabwe

The government in Zimbabwe is thought to be ready to seize farms and 28,000 cattle owned by Nicholas van Hoogstraten, the jailed British property tycoon.

Van Hoogstraten, who was found guilty at the Old Bailey this week of hiring two men to kill a business rival, has been a close friend of President Robert Mugabe and has financed his governing Zanu-PF party.

Among his extensive property interests in Britain and abroad, Van Hoogstraten has boasted of having investments in Zimbabwe totalling £30m. He owned nine farms in the former British colony, totalling more than 400,000 acres, and also enjoyed a lucrative contract from the government to supply beef from his cattle ranches to the 10,000 Zimbabwean troops fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Two years ago, two of Van Hoogstraten's farms – Eastdale Estate in Masvingo Province and Essexvale Ranch in Matabeleland North Province – were designated for compulsory acquisition under the government's policy of confiscating white farms for redistribution to blacks.

However, Van Hoogstraten negotiated a deal in which he surrendered 4,800 acres of land at his Hayhill Farm in Matabeleland in exchange for keeping the rest of his land.

The deal angered many junior government officials, who felt that Van Hoogstraten's donation was too small in comparison to his holdings. Other white property owners, such as Anglo-American's Nicky Oppenheimer, were offering to give up much more – 60,000 acres. Van Hoogstraten was the only white farmer to reverse the squatting of his land with the support of the government.

Before the court case, Van Hoogstraten was able to rely on his high political connections to retain much of his holdings and his lucrative beef contracts, which included a deal with the government-owned Cold Storage Commission.

However, following the conviction on Monday, farming industry sources said Van Hoogstraten faced the prospect of losing all his land holdings in Zimbabwe. "He travelled here often to keep the politicians on his side ... but some chiefs are already making inquiries about his properties because they have heard he will spend a long period in jail," said an official in the ministry responsible for Mr Mugabe's resettle- ment policies.

The Independent was given the names of senior ruling party officials seeking Van Hoogstraten's properties. "He had certainly managed to make deals with politicians, but you can never make permanent deals with Mugabe," said a farmer close to Van Hoogstraten's dealings.

The farmer said one official had toured a Van Hoogstraten farm at the weekend. Reports say Mr Mugabe's relatives, senior officials and cronies have taken large prime farms seized from whites, ostensibly for black resettlement.

Van Hoogstraten outraged many by strongly supporting Mr Mugabe and repeatedly branding his fellow white farmers "white trash". He has said he considers Mr Mugabe to be an "honourable leader" and that he supports him "100 per cent".