Zimbabwean News You Can Trust
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has finally responded to allegations raised by the Al Jazeera documentary that alleges several prominent Zimbabweans, mainly businesspeople and officials of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe subsidiaries who are engaged in money laundering and possible corruption around gold sales.
ZRP’s response comes after the RBZ’s Financial Intelligence Unit recently froze bank accounts of alleged perpetrators.
In the documentary titled “Gold Mafia”, Al Jazeera’s investigative unit alleges that Uebert Angel, Mr Simon Rudland, Mr Ewan McMillan, Mr Cleopas Chidodo, Mr David Chirozvi, Mr Mehlululi Dube and Mr Fradreck Kunaka are among those engaged in money laundering and gold smuggling
Meanwhile, reports say investigations are in progress and there were unconfirmed reports over the weekend that some of the group may have been questioned by police.
In an interview, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi could not be drawn into confirming if any arrests had been made.
He said, “The Zimbabwe Republic Police is conducting investigations and will give detailed information to the public and media once the initial inquiries are complete.”
However one of the alleged smugglers, Mr Rudland denied involvement in any of the alleged gold deals.
In a statement Rudland said, “This documentary is very sensationalised and extreme despite mere selective snippets of wild and broad claims without any context or evidential proof.
“This is done to traumatise and sensationalise for maximum exposure. Any investigation into this documentary is welcome and will reveal the extent of the fabrication of information contained by Al Jazeera.”
In the documentary, Mr Rudland and Mr MacMillan are portrayed as smugglers who have deals with Fidelity Printers and Refiners to deliver gold bought from small-scale miners to the refinery.
They then export the gold to Dubai and allegedly provide hard currency for Zimbabwe. But the documentary alleges that the two, plus Mr Pattni and Angel, use this mechanism to launder millions of dollars.
Angel is portrayed as offering to use his diplomatic status to carry large volumes of dirty cash into Zimbabwe as part of a laundering operation also involving gold smuggling. And he is captured repeatedly dropping the name of the President to Al Jazeera’s undercover reporters.
