News

Mujuru namedin gold sale deal

February 25, 2009 Edition 1

Zimbabwean vice-president Joyce Mujuru was involved in an bid to sell gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo on the world market despite European sanctions, a trading company alleged.

Mujuru's daughter, Nyasha del Campo, tried to sell 3.7 tons of gold - which could be worth up to US$92.5 million dollars - last November, Bernd Hagemann, vice-president of Firstar Europe, said yesterday.

When his firm refused to do the deal and put those allegedly involved on its blacklist, Mujuru made a menacing phone call to him, Hagemann claimed.

Hagemann said Firstar Europe had been contacted by a broker in Madrid about a possible deal, which was then referred to its due diligence department.

Del Campo had repeatedly stressed that funding for the deal would come from her mother, whose identity the firm was then unaware of, he said.

"We didn't know at this time that she was the daughter of the vice-president of Zimbabwe. She said all the time 'my mother will pay that'," Hagemann said.

"After the documents came back from due diligence, I saw them and I saw also the result of the due diligence, it was very high crime people … involved".

Asked why the firm had decided to publicise its allegations, Hagemann said he wanted to deter people who wanted to sell gold illegally.

There was no immediate reaction from Mujuru to the allegations. The BBC reported that Del Campo declined to comment and is consulting her lawyers. - Sapa-AFP