By Staff Reporter
Harare – The United States and the United Kingdom on Monday announced sanctions against Kamlesh Pattni, a key figure in the so-called “Gold Mafia,” along with dozens of businesses and individuals involved in a global gold smuggling and money laundering network based in Zimbabwe.
“Gold Mafia” was a four-part investigation by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) which revealed a series of gold smuggling gangs in Southern Africa that help criminals launder hundreds of millions of dollars, getting rich themselves while plundering their nations.
The sanctions, unveiled during the International Anti-Corruption Day commemorations, target Pattni and his associates for exploiting Zimbabwe’s natural resources through schemes that enriched themselves at the expense of the country.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said Pattni, who once cultivated close ties with former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, engaged in activities that included selling Zimbabwe’s natural resources abroad and overstating cash returns to the country.
Pattni and his network, the Treasury noted, operated across multiple jurisdictions, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Kyrgyzstan.
“Across the globe, when corrupt actors like Pattni choose to exploit openings in governance structures to benefit themselves and their cronies, communities suffer and public trust is undermined,” said acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith.
“Corruption respects no borders and its consequences are felt worldwide,” the statement added.
The UK also announced parallel sanctions targeting Pattni, his wife, his brother-in-law, and two others.
The British government emphasized that the measures aim to “disrupt and deter” Pattni’s illicit business operations.
“Illicit gold is an assault on the legitimate trade of a valuable commodity, fuelling corruption, undermining the rule of law and entrenching human rights abuses such as child labour,” the UK said in a statement.
Pattni is no stranger to controversy.
He was one of the masterminds behind Kenya’s Goldenberg scandal in the 1990s—a massive gold and currency fraud scheme that nearly bankrupted the country and implicated senior Kenyan government officials.
While he faced trial in 2006, the case collapsed, and Pattni later reinvented himself as a self-proclaimed pastor, eventually relocating to Zimbabwe.
Earlier this year, Pattni was implicated in an Al Jazeera exposé on Zimbabwe’s “Gold Mafia,” which detailed widespread corruption and criminal activities in the gold trade.
Pattni has denied any involvement in money laundering or smuggling.
The sanctions mark a significant step in the international fight against corruption and the illicit gold trade, highlighting the global consequences of such sc
