Harare- The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe might consider taking legal action against individuals who appeared in a promo for an Al Jazeera documentary which claims to expose how politically connected cartels run gold smuggling and money laundering schemes in Zimbabwe.
A promo of the documentary, curated by Al Jazeera, aired last week, but the full programme is yet to be released after the Qatari news organisstion put it on hold citing technical challenges.
Responding to allegations that the RBZ was at the centre of the allaged corruption, governor John Mangudya said the claims were sensationally wild, false and malicious.
“The Bank reserves its rights to take appropriate legal action or initiate necessary sanctions against the interviewees and purveyors of the fake news to protect its fiduciary responsibilities in the national interests,” he said in a statement.
“The snippets cite a few boastful and name-dropping individuals, who neither work for nor represent the Bank in any capacity, as sources of the allegations.”
Mangudya dismissed sentiments by one of the interviewees who boasted that he had diplomatic cover to “fly dirty cash into Zimbabwe where it can be laundered through gold and other investments.”
Another individual also claimed that his phone “is on speed dial” with the Bank’s Governor.
“These are all false and malicious allegations. It is unbelievable that such bizarre claims, allegedly made by private individuals who have no relationship with the Bank whatsoever, have been elevated to gospel truths and published with reckless abandon,” he said.
“It is particularly strange that the reports claim that through the Bank, Government is using illicit ways as a scheme to bust international sanctions placed on political leaders and government entities.
“The Bank is not a sanctioned entity, and the cited individuals are not sanctioned persons either.”
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