Gold Mafia: Kamlesh Pattni Claims He "Appreciates" Mnangagwa Every Two Weeks
Kenyan gold dealer Kamlesh Pattni claims he pays President Emmerson Mnangagwa every two weeks to enable him to continue carrying out his gold and money laundering operations in Zimbabwe.
Pattni (aka Brother Paul), made the claims to undercover Al Jazeera reporters who posed as Chinese gangsters who wanted his services to launder as much as US$1.2 billion from Hong Kong.
This was revealed in the fourth and final installment of the Al Jazeera documentary, “Gold Mafia” titled “Have The King With You” that was premiered on Friday, 14 April 2023.
Pattni told the undercover reporters that he had the President’s number and regularly chats with him on WhatsApp. He was filmed saying:
This is his number. I call him Tembo…I always give him how much we have done… Yeah, he has to be informed. I was just writing him a message here.
Pattni then showed the reporters WhatsApp messages he allegedly exchanged with the president.
One of the undercover reporters asked Pattnin: “This is the President’s number. Direct to the President?” In response, Pattni said: “Yes directly… I have to inform him.”
Pattni also claimed he makes payments to Mnangagwa every two weeks through his young brother. He said:
This is like the norm of life. The incentives, the fees… the appreciation.
Every two weeks, Swetang, my brother is there. Every fortnight, he is there at the State House. We always contribute our appreciation.
One of the undercover reporters then asked Pattni; “To Mnangagwa?” In response, Pattni said:
To the King himself… When you work, you must always have the king with you. The President.
In the first episode of Gold Mafia, a former accountant of Kamlesh Pattni said that his former boss is duping Zimbabwean authorities. He said:
He exports jewellery and gold bars to Dubai and the rest of the world. In exchange, he has to bring foreign currency to Zimbabwe. On paper, he is bringing money to Zimbabwe.
Sometimes they’re bringing some cash from there and then they declare it. But the amount is less.
They’re not declaring the actual amounts. They bring 50 000, sometimes 100 000 but they declare it as one million or two million.
In one blue form obtained by Al Jazeera, Pattni states that he brought US$1 219 723.20 from selling jewellery in Dubai.
But Pattni does not bring US$1 219 723.20 to Zimbabwe. His former accountant said:
They give bribes to the customs guys there. They tell them to stamp their blue form, and put the amount they are bringing as $1.2 million but actually, he didn’t bring that $1.2 million amount.
A document obtained by Al Jazeera suggests that instead of US$1 219 723.20, Pattni brought US$99 850.
He leaves the bulk of the money he got from selling Jewellery in Dubai.
But that affects his ability to buy gold in Zimbabwe. He does not have US$1.2 million as declared. His former accountant says he would go on the market.
He collects United States dollars from his clients in Zimbabwe and buys gold which he exports as before. He collects his 18% percent commission from the Zimbabwean government. He uses it to pay his clients in Dubai. The accountant added:
With gold exports, Kamlesh Pattni is pretending that he is helping the country with foreign reserves. He is not bringing any foreign currency inside the country.
He is taking all foreign reserves outside the country. He’s just making a fool of the people around him, the government officials.
The Gold Mafia documentary exposed an alleged series of gold smuggling gangs in Southern Africa that help criminals launder hundreds of millions of dollars.
The gang members get rich while plundering their nations and keeping millions in abject poverty.
They use gold to turn dirty cash into clean, seemingly legitimate money for those with large amounts of unaccounted wealth.
The criminals do so by using a complex web of companies, counterfeit identities and fake documents.
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