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Dubious liaisons

STEFAANS BRüMMER AND SAM SOLE - Nov 20 2009 06:00
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The Moseneke family has Congolese oil rights, which were facilitated by an alleged fraudster extraordinaire.

Nozi Mwamba, the facilitator who helped pave the way for the Moseneke family's Encha Group to obtain Congolese oil concessions, is wanted in France on charges that he was key to a multibillion-rand currency swindle.

Judge Dikgang Moseneke's general reply (PDF)

Anthea Brown's full reply on behalf of Mwamba (PDF)

Mwamba, who lives in South Africa and his native Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), denies the charges, but has not returned to attend a trial under way in Paris.

The severity of the charges against Mwamba -- it is reported to be one of the largest currency counterfeiting operations ever -- underscores the problem, reported by the Mail & Guardian last week, of Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke's exposure to controversy through his investment in the Encha Group.

Moseneke controls 18% of Encha through his family trust. He has denied that the investment undermines his judicial independence, saying he has "served as a judge diligently, with integrity and with the full observance of the law and judicial ethics". There is no suggestion that he was personally aware of Mwamba's role.

The alleged counterfeit operation involved the 1998 printing of 140-million dinars, supposedly for the official use of the Bahraini government. A French indictment against Mwamba and others gives the face value as $360-million (R2.7-billion now) -- more than the whole issued currency of the small emirate.

The tale of how an established Argentinian banknote printer, Ciccone Calcographica, was apparently conned into printing nearly eight tonnes of "real" fake banknotes by a group of individuals purporting to represent the Bahrain monetary agency is set out in the indictment.

CONTINUES BELOW


Mwamba, also known as Nozy Richard Mouamba Mounanga, is listed as accused number six. The indictment, issued in December 2007, confirmed he was still the subject of an international arrest warrant issued in March 2000 and ordered he stand trial.

The indictment claims it was Mwamba who served as an intermediary, introducing the purported official Bahraini representatives to Ciccone, the printer. One of those claimed to be a special representative of the Bahrain monetary agency was actually a Bahraini taxi driver.

Once printed, the dinars were transported on three flights from Argentina, which Mwamba helped arrange, but not to Bahrain. Two flights delivered banknotes to Chad and one to Niger in May and June 1998. Soon the dinars were being changed in, among other places, Belgium and France, which led to the alleged scam being uncovered.

In June 1998 the Thomas Cook foreign exchange agency in Paris raised suspicions about an attempt to change fake dinars for about 600000 French francs. Two days later Paris police arrested six people in two vehicles loading heavy bags of counterfeit notes. Mwamba was implicated in the alleged laundering of the notes.

He was arrested in Zurich in November 1999 on an international warrant issued by a Belgian magistrate. The indictment states that he was carrying a Belgian passport in the name of "Paul Bonga Bonga" and admitted also to using the identity "Richard Beya", resident of Cameroon.

It says he claimed at the time that the printing was legal and the dinars had been ordered by the Bahrain authorities.

According to media reports he was extradited to Belgium, but allegedly absconded to South Africa using a fake identity after being granted bail.

In South Africa, Mwamba had already established himself -- he had set up a local company, Sub-Congo Trading, in July 1998, only a month after the Thomas Cook incident in Paris. Soon afterwards he also registered a Johannesburg nightclub and restaurant, Sankayi.

Mwamba is not the only person absent from the Paris courtroom. A central suspect in the affair, Hicham Mandari, was assassinated in Spain in August 2004 after he had been extradited from the United States two years earlier.

Mandari, who claimed to be the illegitimate son of the late King Hassan II of Morocco, told investigators he had been introduced to Mwamba by Sheik Hamad, the Bahrain defence minister.

At different times he claimed that the scheme had been intended to destabilise the Bahrain government either at the behest of rival factions in the royal family or at the instigation of Iranian intelligence. Either way, a single bullet to the back of the neck at point blank range put paid to his evidence.

Another accused who could give evidence -- but implicating one of France's African allies -- is also absent, though he indicated to the court his willingness to travel to Paris. Hassan Fadoul, described as a former special adviser to Chadian President Idriss Déby, stated during the investigation that the operation was partly initiated with the backing of Déby to finance his election campaign.

Fadoul alleged that Mwamba had contacted Déby in 1996 with a proposal to print false francs to fund his campaign.

Fadoul, who is in exile in Togo, was denied an entry visa by the French authorities despite his willingness to stand trial. The Paris trial is set down to continue until December 2.

Mwamba, through his associate Andrea Brown, this week denied all allegations against him. It was Brown's Divine Inspiration Group, with Mwamba's help, which negotiated two DRC oil blocks now co-owned by Encha Group, in 2007 and early 2008.

Brown said: "The allegations about the nature of Mwamba's involvement [in the alleged counterfeiting] are incorrect … he was not involved in trying to change any Bahrain dinars, he had no relationship with any representatives of the Bahrain monetary authority."

Mwamba, she said, was an official representative of Ciccone, the printer -- implying that he was merely carrying out instructions in what he thought to be an above-board printing order. "This was confirmed by a high court decision in Belgium in December 2008, which found the case against more than 20 individuals including Mwamba foundationless, issuing a not guilty verdict."

Brown confirmed, however, that the Belgian verdict was being appealed by the prosecution. She denied Mwamba had skipped bail in Belgium as reported, saying his departure had been "formally authorised".

She claimed Mwamba had "no knowledge of a French indictment in 2007. He is aware of a warrant in 1998, but as a result of the procedure already under way in Belgium, European law requires the Belgium proceedings to take precedence."

Brown also emphasised that her company "has had absolutely no contact or relationship with Dikgang Moseneke neither directly nor indirectly and in all my interactions with Encha Group I have never come across him".
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Comments

Hypocrite! It is not what Moseneke want, but what the South African public deserves - the thruth and censure..........
Proudly_South African Proudly_South African on November 20, 2009, 7:58 am
Another imbecile - we do not have a shortage of those in these parts
on November 20, 2009, 9:21 am
This time you included smoke, mirrors and anything that stinks in your sadistic attempt to besmirch Jusge Moseneke. In spite of you own concluding statements (i.e that neither Brown nor Mwamba had anything to do with Judge Moseneke and that none of them either directly or indirectly interacted with Encha Group), you still proceed to title your article, "Dubious Liasons". Curiously, you do not indicate in what way Mwamba "facilitated" the deal for and behalf of Encha Group. Instead the entire piece is dedicated to Mwamba's apparent shady background but it is used, unfairly and with intended malice, to tarnish the Judge’s image.
Kaycee Potong on November 20, 2009, 11:53 am
Kaycee Potong on November 20, 2009, 11:53 am

Agree completely.

It's a horribly misleading article that casts aspersions on the judge for no sensible reasons.

I originally thought that Mwamba was active in the Encha Group - now it seems that at most he introduced someone to someone else.

Eish!
Maggs Naidu on November 20, 2009, 12:06 pm
After realising that their 09 Nov 2009 MG front page was a furse and a censured news, MG comes again to try and print a whole lot of rubbish that does not add upto Moseneke issue. Mirrors, smokescreens are at the center of this article and I still say it now, our journalists are on somebody's payroll and until that thug is exposed, so as true journalism could prevail.

Ethics are suppose to guide journalists when doing their job, unless of course your are Mr Sole, Brummer, Mandy Rossouw, Manaledi Mataboge or ofcourse Mr "Hearsay" Alcock. I am a fan of MG but on quality news worth investigated and researched.....
lenate mogale on November 20, 2009, 1:24 pm
Infact it was on the 13th, not 09th.
lenate mogale on November 20, 2009, 1:25 pm
I remember how Jimmy Swaggart use to lambast "immorals" (The immoral people) Those who had sex before marriage and you know the rest, while in fact he was the dirtiest amongst all. Moseneke is not the sheep that you think he is, had there been a conspiracy it would have came out before nomination and appointment of judges, however the person with this info should find out more and nail the thug who presides over our cases, who knows maybe hid judgments are sometimes clouded by business interests. Moseneke involves himself too much in what shouldnt be of Judges interests, the comments he made about Zuma and appointing himself as chief justice before the process took place is an example, he acts big in a very small town
Dumisani Mlambo on November 20, 2009, 1:51 pm
Agreed, the reporter spent 99% of this article on the supposed shdy coming's and going's of Nozi. What did all this have to do with the Judges family having oil rights in the Congo. However, if that is in fact true, I would definitley want it audited and or investigated. Most if not all oil deals are coupled with some corruption and bribery. Just by having his (Judges) name associated with this leaves a very bad smell. Maybe its perfectly innocent, but it is not likely.
Apocalypse Now on November 20, 2009, 2:47 pm
Yet another case for the speedy implementation of The Media Tribunal !!!
How long can we be exposed to such shoddy journalism ...
The Moxster on November 20, 2009, 3:37 pm
for a while there i thot i was reading a diff article when i got to the body of it. i think the daily sun should be looking over its shoulder! this kind of thing wud not even make it on a high skool newspaper!
say wat on November 20, 2009, 3:57 pm
Can the real Moseneke tell us clearly why he is, of all people, associated with dubious people like these? True or not, the story needs to be taken forward and we must be told the truth by Moseneke himself.
Ted sigonyela on November 21, 2009, 8:40 pm
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