Zimbabwe: 'Mnangagwa Is My Partner, I Went to Prison to Protect Him' Claims Gold Smuggler Macmillan in Al Jazeera Exposé

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(File photo).
29 March 2023
New Zimbabwe (London)

Convicted gold smuggler Ewan Macmillan has claimed in an audio snippet of Al Jazeera's 'Gold Mafia' documentary that he allegedly spent 60 days in prison to protect his then 'partner' President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The Qatar-based news network is now releasing a weekly Podcast every Tuesday sharing the 'Gold Mafia' back stories not included in their film.

In the podcast, Macmillan brags that he allegedly took a blow for Mnangagwa.

"I have been doing gold since I was 19, I went to jail for the first time for gold when I was 21...and you will not believe this but my partner is the President. I did 60 days in prison and my partner is the new President," claimed Macmillan.

He added that following his arrest he was approached by men who threatened his life if he ever exposed Mnangagwa.

"98 - 2000, I got in, two very ginormous black guys and they said 'you know who your partner is don't mention it or your life will get so much worse"', he added.

According to the Investigative Unit podcast, Macmillan revealed that he exported about 200kgs of gold every week worth US$12 million.

Because of his proximity to power and government influence, Macmillan said he had a leeway to cut corners that involved paperwork.

"The contract I have with the government is, I don't have to produce paperwork, so when a person comes to sell me gold I don't have to write his name down I don't have to do anything."

Macmillan explained how money is laundered using gold in three easy steps.

First unaccounted money is smuggled into Zimbabwe.

Secondly, that money is used to buy gold from small-scale miners.

Lastly the gold is then sold in Dubai, thereby cleaning the money that will then be sitting in a Dubai account.

Macmillan also revealed that the gold and money would be transported by their own planes.

Last week Al Jazeera aired a documentary titled 'The Laundry Service,' which exposed how hundreds of millions worth of gold were being smuggled to Dubai by individuals with connections to the highest offices.

Some of the high-ranking officials implicated include Henrietta Rushwaya and Ambassador-at-large Uebert Angel.

In the initial episode, Angel is seen offering his diplomatic status to undercover Al Jazeera journalists posing as Chinese gangsters for use in smuggling US$1.2 billion into Zimbabwe from Macau and Hong Kong.

Read the original article on New Zimbabwe.

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