US Authorities Target Southern Africa’s Officials, Businesses Over Gold Smuggling

Washington’s sanctions take aim at a British Kenyan businessman accused of running a global gold smuggling network fueling corruption and crime in Africa.

A 100 trillion dollar Zimbabwe note, worth 40 U.S. cents in 2015, was on display at Coin Heaven in Cottonwood, Ariz., on March 23, 2023. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

In the early 1990s, a British Kenyan businessman, Kamlesh Pattni, allegedly stole $2.3 billion from the public coffers of Kenya and got away with it.

A commission of inquiry later found that Pattni’s company, Goldenberg International Ltd., allegedly pretended to export gold and diamonds and in exchange received substantial subsidies from the government for earning foreign exchange.