|
Another 21 bars of gilded steel transferred from the
Federal Police forensic exhibit office to the vaults
of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) have been
caught. In connection with the finding, the Federal
Ethics and Anticorruption Commission last week
arrested Afework Gaym (chief inspector), head of the
exhibit office at the forensic investigation
department.
Properties - residential and commercial houses, bank
accounts, vehicles and precious stones and metals -
that the suspect owns individually or collectively
with others have been frozen.
Gold bricks NBE purchased for close to 158 million
Br were discovered in a random inspection to be only
gold plated steel, prompting the arrest of employees
of the central bank and the Ethiopian Geological
Survey along with other businessmen as alleged
accomplices.
At a time when the Commission is investigating the
scandal jointly with the Federal Police, another
33,781Kg of gold that was sent to NBE from the
exhibit vault of the police has reportedly been
caught.
The newly discovered phoney gold was claimed to have
been transferred to the central bank a year ago
having been caught at the Addis Abeba Airport
Customs preventing it from being smuggled to Dubai.
“These bars that were to be smuggled by Daniel Shume
and three others were caught and placed at the
exhibit vault of the police department after they
were found to be genuine gold bricks,” stated the
Commission. “The gold was placed in a vault, which
for three years has been run by the suspect, Afework,
until it was transferred to NBE by court order.”
According to the Commission, what was initially
genuine gold has been replaced with gilded steel
befor NBE’s vault was re-checked randomly.
Afework is therefore suspected of substituting the
real gold with the phoney bars.
Requesting the Court to freeze properties belonging
to the suspect on February 12, 2008, the Commission
claimed that it has collected documents that prove
that the gold was real when caught initially.
It is suspected that Afework has accumulated wealth
swindling the gold at his disposal, claimed the
Commission, requesting the Court to freeze his
properties.
Accepting the request, the First Criminal Bench of
the Federal High Court has ruled to freeze
properties under the suspect’s name.
The Court had earlier frozen properties belonging to
seven businessmen suspected of fraudulent acts and
their alleged accomplices.
|
