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New twist to Zimbabwe diamonds saga
23 Sep 2013 at 08:55hrs | Views
The raging diamonds saga has taken a new twist with fresh reports indicating that the Ghanaian investors at the centre of the $6 million bribery scam could have used large sums of cash to illegally deal in gold in a desperate bid to raise money needed to fund the diamond project.
Besides illegally dealing in gold, the Ghanaians reportedly used millions of dollars operating a micro-finance company in Eastlea where they were dishing out vast sums of money to individuals and businessmen at exorbitant interest rates.
Ghanaian businessmen William Atto Essien and Kingsley Ghansah claim that they bribed former Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) chairman Godwills Masimirembwa after they failed to raise the initial $15 million investment capital required to mine diamonds in Chiadzwa.
Fresh information indicates that one of them, Ghansah was last year in April convicted at the magistrates' courts of illegally dealing in gold and was jailed for 5 years.
But in October the same year, Ghansah was released on appeal at the High Court.
Besides illegally dealing in gold, the Ghanaians reportedly used millions of dollars operating a micro-finance company in Eastlea where they were dishing out vast sums of money to individuals and businessmen at exorbitant interest rates.
Fresh information indicates that one of them, Ghansah was last year in April convicted at the magistrates' courts of illegally dealing in gold and was jailed for 5 years.
But in October the same year, Ghansah was released on appeal at the High Court.
Source - dailynews
