Authorities in Zimbabwe have refused to disclose who got the massive payout, an amount equivalent to 5% of the nation's GDP.

Zimbabwe's sovereign wealth fund reportedly paid a "grossly inflated" $1.6-billion to a set of unknown private individuals to buy their shares in a mining conglomerate with recent links to Kudakwashe Tagwirei, a controversial presidential adviser and ruling party donor accused of corruption.

The massive debt-fuelled transfer of public wealth, an amount equivalent to 5% of the nation's GDP, to Kuvimba Mining House, is exposed in an investigation by The Sentry, a US-based investigative organisation that tracks corruption.

The Sentry said in a report published on Wednesday that evidence acquired by the Zimbabwean media outlet The NewsHawks, indicated that $1.6-billion in public debt was used by the Mutapa Investment Fund (formerly known as the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Zimbabwe), to purchase shares in Kuvimba, which owns about a dozen gold, lithium, nickel and platinum mines.

"The Sentry's analysis suggests that Mutapa paid a grossly inflated price for the shares," it said. The report noted that until recently, the state had owned 65% of Kuvimba and private investors had held 35% of the shares.

But in April, The NewsHawks revealed that Mutapa had bought out the private investors for $1.6-billion using government debt.

"A $1.6-billion price tag for a 35% stake...