Gold Mafia: British member of House of Lords raises questions in Parliament about Uebert Angel
A British member of the House of Lords has raised questions seeking to know what the UK government intends to do following allegations of gold smuggling and money laundering made against Zimbabwe government official, self-styled prophet Uebert Angel, who also holds British citizenship.
Lord Oates plans to fielded the following questions in the House:
To ask His Majesty’s government what assessment they have made of allegations of corruption and money laundering contained in the Al Jazeera documentary Gold Mafia, and what steps, if any, they will take to freeze assets held in the UK or dependent territories by those who have been (1) alleged to have engaged in (2) found guilty of engaging in financial crime.
Lord Oates to ask His Majesty’s government what steps they will take, if any, to investigate alleged discrepancies in the application that Uebert Angel, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador-at-Large, made for British citizenship.
Lord Oates to ask His Majesty’s government what assessment they have made of allegations against British citizens made in the Al Jazeera documentary, Gold Mafia, and what steps they will take, if any to investigate the activities of companies whose named directors are alleged to have been involved in conspiracy to commit financial crime.
Lord Oates to ask His Majesty’s government what assessment they have made of whether British Uebert Angel should retain diplomatic status as Zimbabwe’s Ambassador-at-Large.
Angel in different meetings with undercover reporters who identified themselves as Chinese criminals seeking to wash dirty money through the Zimbabwean economy, was caught on hidden camera waxing lyrical, and assuring them that they were in safe hands because unofficially, he is the number two man in Zimbabwe and has the full blessings of the president of the country to sign agreements on behalf of Zimbabwe.
When the undercover reporters told him they wanted to launder over a billion dollars, Angel told them he has laundered several millions before, but never done billions, however, he could launder their billions, with his diplomatic red tape and the money would be delivered directly to his home and nobody would touch it.
He also assured them that they would have no problem at all freely buying and selling gold from Zimbabwe in the money laundering schemes.
When President Emmerson Mnangagwa, appointed Angel Presidential Envoy and Ambassador-at-Large, issues came up in the news about his double identity.
News sources in Zimbabwe found he has two national ID cards. The first ID card has the registration number 83-099297X83, and was reported to have been issued at the Zaka registry offices in Masvingo in 1996. The second card with the registration number 29-195587H83, was said to have been issued in Gweru in the Midlands a year later.
The date of birth on both cards is the same, September 6, 1978, but the card numbers are different.
The reports indicated that he used the 1997 ID to secure a Zimbabwean passport with the number ZE 306043.
However, the news reports also pointed out that his British passport, number 464932598 which was issued on November 6, 2009, had a different date of birth from the one on his Zimbabwe national ID cards. The British passport has March 4, 1972 as his date of birth.
Angel’s Lawyer in Zimbabwe, Prof Lovemore Madhuku has denied all the allegations and threatened legal action against Al Jazeera and anyone else who shares the stories on social media.
The other British citizen caught in the video is Angel’s assistant at his church, Rikki Doolan, who has also denied the allegations.
The Gold Mafia is a four-series undercover investigative work broadcast by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit, which infiltrated the high ranks of a gold smuggling mafia that according to accounts of the members who were recorded on hidden cameras, operates across the continent washing dirty money in gold deals.
By Emmanuel K Dogbevi
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