The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is facing possible sanctions over allegations of money laundering and illicit gold dealings.
The bank’s governor, John Mangudya, has denied the accusations, which were made in the first of a four-part documentary by Al-Jazeera.
The report alleged that a criminal syndicate, allegedly linked to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is laundering money and smuggling gold from Zimbabwe to Dubai.
Journalists posed as criminals to expose Mnangagwa’s ambassador-at-large, Ubert Angel, who was offering to use his diplomatic status to launder millions of US dollars through a gold-smuggling scheme.
Speaking about the allegations, SABC News’ Zimbabwe Correspondent Ephert Musekiwa reportedly said:
“The Reserve Bank Governor actually came out in the open and denied the allegations made by Al-Jazeera before the documentary was even aired. Remember that Fidelity falls under the bank so it’s the Governor who has to respond. They went even further to actually say that Zimbabwean gold was not sanctioned, so there was no reason why they would resort to smuggling to sell the gold. So, he has denied all the allegations of being the bank behind the money laundering.”
Meanwhile, the bank has not yet faced any sanctions
