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The federal police arrested four staff members of
the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) on December 7,
2007, who are suspected of involvement in a scam to
fraudulently pass off gilded steel and stone as gold
brick.
“The government has lost 96.5 million Br because the
suspects did not value the high level of trust
bestowed upon them,” Chief Inspector Tewolde Besrat
told the jury. “Though they should have checked what
Kefyalew was supplying was indeed gold, they did
not. In the presence of witnesses, the commodities
have now been found to be of rather different
stuff.”
These suspects are former Treasury Department Head
Ahmed Seid, who currently works in the International
Banking Division, and three Treasury Department
staffs: Alemayehu Kassahun, Chimdesa Hirpa and
Fekadu Lulu. The suspects appeared before the
Federal First Instance Court, Arada First Criminal
Bench, the following day and were scheduled to
reappear before the court in 14 days, by the request
of the police.
In a random check police made at the gold vault of
the NBE, gold bars bought from Kefyalew were found
to be fake, according to the police. The gold was
bought and reserved from December 2005 to April
2007. Until 2005, only the NBE had the right to
export gold. In 2005, the Bank issued a directive
that gives gold exporting rights to licensed
investors. The bureaucracy involved in issuing a
license, however, has made it impossible for
investors to get involved in the sector, bank
staffers disclosed.
Up until 2005, NBE used to send the gold, silver and
precious metals it would buy to a company in
Switzerland, AR GOR House, for inspection before
making payment. However, in 2005 it decided to have
metals inspected locally at the Ministry of Mines
and Energy (MoME). Staffers told Fortune that
the change was needed because the time it takes to
finalise the whole process discouraged suppliers,
who rather opted to sell the metals elsewhere for a
more immediate return.
Under the current policy, gold procured by the
central bank is inspected by the MoME and then
stored at the NBE right after it came packed from
the Ministry.
“It was as of that year that frequent tips began to
be given to the Ethiopian Customs Authority that NBE
is procuring fake gold,” sources at the customs told
Fortune.
Indeed, the amount of gold that the bank annually
procures has risen as of 2005 to as high as 2,000Kg.
“In connection with this case we will make further
investigations on the remaining vaults of the NBE,”
said a police investigator who declined to make
further comments on a pending case. “Several vaults
are yet to be checked and audited.”
Judge Shemsu Sergaga was convinced when police
appealed to detain the suspects for further
investigation and additional audit of others
unchecked vaults.
“The request is convincing,” the Judge asserted
before instructing police to report to the court on
December 22, 2007. |
