South African tycoon accuses Otafiire of selling him fake gold
Justice Minister Gen. Kahinda Otafiire
Justice Minister Gen. Kahinda Otafiire and the former External Security Organisation deputy chief Emmy Allio have locked horns with a South African businessman over Shs1.8 billion gold deal gone bad.
The businessman, running a Kampala-based firm called International Metals and Minerals (IMM), partnered with Mineral Point Ltd (MP) run by Gen. Otafiire and Mr Allio but the South African accuses the duo of luring him into a fake gold deal in Mwanza, Tanzania.
In a written statement reported to have been sent to President Museveni, the businessman, Henri Van Der Westhuizen, said: “I was lured to Tanzania by Gen. Otafiire and Mr Emmy Allio to meet a conman.”
After the deal unravelled, Mr Van Der Westhuizen says he has had friction with some security chiefs, who have allegedly threatened his life.
Gen. Otafiire denies any dubious dealings, saying the South African businessman tested the gold himself, exported it from Tanzania to Uganda and then to Dubai and “after two weeks he came back claiming that the gold is fake.” He added that his company was just a commissioning agent whose work was to identify the gold dealer for IMM.
“If I identify for you the girl and you are impotent, do you blame me?” the General asked. “The minister is now claiming that Gen. Mayunga is suing him for $100,000, which I had stood surety for, for the South African buyer. If I see Henry, I will cut off his head.”
Gen. Otafiire said the South African investor wanted him to deal with rebels in DR Congo, which he decline being a government minister.
His business partner, Allio, said at his office on Ecobank building on Thursday that: “We made a loss as a company because of that foolish man. We expected from him our $36,000 commission.”
Mr Allio further said Mr Van Der Westhuizen should reveal the people who conned him because after he took the gold to Dubai, he came back and said the Gold was fake.
According to Mr Van Der Westhuizen, IMM entered a strategic partnership in which Mineral Point was to assist it in identifying business opportunities, especially gold buying.
“During the week of July 19, 2010, Mr Emmy Allio approached me with a potential gold buying opportunity. Mr Allio told me that minister, Maj. Gen. Otafiire, has a trusted friend in Tanzania, Lt. Gen. Silas Mayunga, who is a big diamond and gold dealer,” he says.
The deal
Mr Van Der Westhuizen says Mr Allio discussed the proposal with Gen. Otafiire and in his presence, a call was made to Gen. Mayunga and a rendezvous fixed for Mwanza on July 25, 2010.
He said he was taken to a gold refinery where he was first shown a sample of genuine gold after which he was asked for the money to clear security personnel at the airport, who would assist when they are exiting with the gold.
“I was only carrying $3,500 at the time as I thought this was just an introductory and viewing exercise,” he said, adding that Mr Allio who did not want to go out of his hotel room for fear of being identified, pestered him to conclude the deal because Gen. Mayunga was drunk and that “this is a very dangerous man.”
The businessman says he later chartered a plane back to Uganda to pick the money and he returned to Mwanza with $230,000 hoping that “with the presence of the Gen. Otafiire, Lt. Mayunga would allow us to make a down payment and that we could carry the product to Dubai, sell it, come back and do the next deal.”
This did not happen as Lt. Gen. Muyunga reportedly said he had earlier been conned by Canadians, therefore; he needed full amount of $765,000.
Impersonator
He says he got R2 million (South African Rand) from his brother and returned to Mwanza to conclude the deal. In Tanzania, the investor alleges that he asked Mr Allio if “he is sure about the product, as the product was left in the custody of the General while I returned to Uganda to fetch the money.”
“Mr Allio pleaded with me to leave this and told me that we rather leave the country as he is under pressure for other engagements in Kampala,” he said.
While in Mwanza, he left his colleague Jose Perreira to prepare paperwork in Entebbe for the gold to transit to Dubai as originating from Uganda.
“On arrival in Dubai on August 1, 2010, the bag was handed to Transguard Security that delivered the product to Al Gaith Refinery. After testing the product at Al Gaith Refinery, we were told that it was brass, not gold,” Mr Van Der Westhuizen said, adding that he later learnt that “Lt. Gen” Mayunga was a con man who impersonated the real Lt. Gen. Mayunga, who also died weeks later.
Mr Allio said they had an agreement with IMM but they severed relations after Mr Van Der Westhuizen asked them to deal with Congolese rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda.
The journalist turned spy chief, said he suspects that “either they [Tanzanians] cross-cut him [Henry] at the airport as he was dodging taxes or Jose Pereira, who took the gold to Dubai, cheated them.”
