HARARE – Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) has called on Zimbabwean authorities to investigate individuals linked to a dirty gold smuggling and money laundering scandal recently exposed in a four-part Al Jazeera documentary.
Al Jazeera journalists posing as criminals approached Zimbabwe Ambassador at Large and preacher Uebert Angel, gold dealer Ewan Macmillan and other individuals seeking help in smuggling loads of cash and gold.
In the documentary, titled The Gold Mafia, the individuals, who have close links to the ruling elite, were secretly filmed by the Qatar based news network offering to perform the tasks at a huge fee.
Angel and his business partner Rikki Doolan also claimed that their laundering operations had the approval of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Angel has subsequently hinted the coming episodes shall also feature Mnangagwa’s wife and son, Emmerson Junior.
In a statement Tuesday, TIZ called on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Financial Intelligence Unit, police and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission to take the allegations seriously through launching an investigation to get to the bottom of the crimes.
Said TIZ, “As the documentary highlights, more and more cartels work with individuals and institutions in Zimbabwe to move dirty money using anonymous trusts and shell companies in tax havens and other secretive jurisdictions.
“This insidious relationship facilitates organised crime and huge outflows of gold and other precious minerals.
“In particular, the documentary exposes incidences of alleged under-invoicing and under declarations by registered gold dealers to Fidelity Gold Printers and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, alleging higher losses than previously assumed.
“This reduces the country’s ability to build critical infrastructure and support the needs of the population or respond to urgent challenges.”
Added TIZ, “It is concerning that the documentary suggests that authorities do not complete sufficient due diligence into potential investors – including official gold traders.
“The revelations are a possible source of information to bust criminal networks that are actively engaging in gold smuggling and laundering money from Zimbabwe and other selected African countries.
“Law enforcement, anti-corruption agencies and regulatory authorities should immediately revoke gold trade and export licences given to the implicated individuals and corporations, pending an investigations into the allegations.”
However, it is unlikely the Zanu PF led government would allow an investigation on individuals exposed by the documentary in which the president’s name features.
Both Zanu PF and government spokespersons have dismissed the documentary as a provocation against the country’s rulers.
Presidential spokesperson George Charamba has gone on to issue threats against journalists who have delighted in extracting stories from the damning exposé.
The documentary comes after the release of a 2022 Global Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International which ranked Zimbabwe number 157 among 180 surveyed countries, meaning the country is among the world’s most corrupt territories.
