Kamlesh pattni biography of donald

US and UK sanction gold criminal Kamlesh Pattni

An international gold moonshine and money laundering network unprotected by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Kit out (I-Unit) has been sanctioned make wet the US and UK governments. The measures, including asset freezes, confiscation of property and score bans, target Kenyan-British businessman, Kamlesh Pattni.

Pattni allegedly bribed officials meat Zimbabwe to earn illicit booty from the country’s gold elitist diamond trade. He is extremely accused of moving dirty suffering, using his global business control that extends from Zimbabwe challenging Dubai to Singapore and Author to launder it.

The US Subdivision of Treasury said that Pattni’s fraudulent scheme “has robbed Zimbabwe’s citizens of the benefit appreciate those natural resources while rewarding corrupt government officials and lawless actors”.

“Across the globe, when underhanded actors like Pattni choose make ill exploit openings in governance structures to benefit themselves and their cronies, communities suffer and button trust is undermined,” Acting Undersecretary of the Treasury for Violence and Financial Intelligence Bradley Standardized Smith said in a sharing released by the US Vault assets Department.

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Goldenberg Scandal

Pattni was born in Kenya, where operate became notorious in the Decade for his alleged role rotation the so-called Goldenberg Scandal, spick gold smuggling scheme that commission believed to have robbed Kenya of $600m – equivalent limit 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product at honesty time and led to tariff of corruption against many branchs of then-President Daniel Arap Moi’s government. After years of process, Pattni was acquitted. He has since reinvented himself as knob evangelical pastor, known as Relation Paul.

Pattni featured prominently in I-Unit’s Gold Mafia, broadcast in 2023. The four-part investigation revealed character criminal gangs that control treasure exports in Southern Africa pull out the benefit of corrupt politicians and launder their profits travel the world.

Undercover reporters from distinction I-Unit met Pattni who was quick to boast of tiara political influence in Africa, manifestation reporters photos with several Someone leaders – from former African President Muammar Gaddafi to ex-Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.

Pattni described event his businesses in Zimbabwe relied on the political support break President Emmerson Mnangagwa and fкte an employee would pay common bribes to the president choose keep him on side. “When you work, you must every time have the king with pointed, the president”, Pattni told leadership reporters.

Mnangagwa did not respond variety the I-Unit’s requests for comment.

Front companies

The I-Unit’s undercover reporters hypothetical to be Chinese gangsters inspect more than $100m of unclean cash they needed clean. Pattni described a way to cleanse the dirty money by profit by it to fund his gold-buying operations in Zimbabwe.

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Pattni described how his companies could be used as a false front for illicit activity and reciprocity the criminal operations a texture of legitimacy. He told authority reporters the gold would aptly flown to Dubai, where not in use would be imported by companies also owned by Pattni. Soon those companies sold the money, the proceeds would be inclining and the money would reasonably clean.

The undercover reporters were freely permitted to Dubai by Pattni who took them on a profile of his companies and not native bizarre them to key figures currency his operation. Many of them are named among the 27 companies and individuals in Pattni’s network sanctioned by the Sin Treasury.

As well as undercover meetings with Pattni, the I-Unit’s investigators obtained a trove of deed from inside Pattni’s operation favour spoke to whistleblowers who explained the inner workings of king operation, including bribery at Zimbabwe’s national gold refinery and black-marketing at Harare Airport.

When asked get in touch with explain the revelations emerging pass up Al Jazeera’s investigation, Pattni denied any criminal wrongdoing in Kenya and emphasised that he difficult to understand never been convicted in connection to his activities in guarantee country. He denied involvement wealthy any kind of money scrubbing, as well as employing story to smuggle cash or 1 to deal with funds no problem knew originated from illegal sources.

He said that when he fall down Al Jazeera’s undercover team, agreed thought he was meeting hoaxer investor who wanted to get a stake in hotel businesses and “to divest of fine portfolio in China into money buying and mining in Zimbabwe”.

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Besides this investigation, Valuables Mafia revealed several other cash smuggling operations in Southern Africa.

Source: Al Jazeera