If a CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation) official is married or has a girlfriend and is asked what their occupation is, how do they respond?
That's what front companies are for, including sandboxing. I'm not sure if the Central Intelligence Organisation of Zimbabwe uses them to cloak its agents, but some foreign intelligence services that I know operate this way. You are always cloaked unless you are stupid enough to blow your cover and be neutralized.
For your information, an example scenario in Zimbabwe is that you may be employed and registered as a ZRP officer or the Military even though you work for the CIO. You can also be deployed to ZIMRA, an Embassy, an opposition political party, pretty much anything, and so forth. That being said, there is a difference between a secret agent and an informant, and that should be common sense.
However, a front company operates like a normal business, even though it's dodgy and doesn't pay taxes like a normal company. In some cases, it can also be a no-show job. I could go on and on. All of this depends on the level of security clearance and your given objective.
Nevertheless, one of the golden rules in intelligence is that if a goal is morally important enough, any method of getting it is acceptable.