WASHINGTON - Zimbabwe’s central bank has frozen bank accounts of Ambassador At Large, Eubert Angel, gold dealers Kamlesh Pattni and Ewan McMillan and several others cited in an investigative Al Jazeera documentary series as playing a key role in the smuggling of the precious metal worth millions of dollars from the southern African nation.
In a tweet, information secretary Nick Mangwana said Simon Rudland, also said to be a key gold smuggling dealer, is among those that had their bank accounts frozen by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Mangwana said, “With immediate effect, No funds will be transferred from the frozen accounts until the FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit) has finished its investigations.”
Angel was quoted in the documentary as saying he can use diplomatic bags to ferry gold from Zimbabwe to Dubai and other nations. He is closely linked to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The Zimbabwean president has so far not uttered a word about the gold scandal. A gold deal also featured in the documentary told undercover Al Jazeera journalists that Mnangagwa is aware of the gold smuggling scheme.
Al Jazeera has so far aired three of its four-part documentary series, in which the television network exposed the alleged massive looting of gold by some of the people, whose assets have been frozen.
The central bank on Thursday froze assets of four implicated people - Cleopas Chidodo, David Chirozvi, Mehluleli Dube and Fredrick Kunaka.