Mwanyika case: Govt seeks foreign help

Dar es Salaam. Prosecutors in the case against ex-vice president of Pangea, North Mara and Bulyanhulu gold mines, Mr Deogratius Mwanyika, and others, now seek assistance of foreign investigators.

This was said yesterday by State Attorney Wankyo Saimon when addressing Resident Magistrate Kelvin Mhina, at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court.

The revelation came after defence lawyer Gasper Nyika had asked the court to be told when the evidence against the accused would be adduced in court – as well as details of the foreign interventions in the probe that had been sought by the prosecution. “What we want to know is: what steps have so far been taken in investigating (the case against) the accused, and how far the steps have gone,’’ he demanded when the case came up for mention.

Responding, State Attorney Wakyo stated that the prosecution had definitely taken steps in the investigations, but could not give details thereof. In any case, he asked the court to set another date when the case would come up for mention again. The court granted the request – and adjourned the case to February 15 when it would be mentioned, pending completion of the investigations.

Mr Mwanyika, 56, is a former Acacia Mining vice president of Corporate Affairs. He has been charged with assorted criminal offences together with the Bulyanhulu Gold Mine Public Relations manager Alex Lugendo, 41, and four Acacia Mining firms.

The four firms are Pangea Minerals Limited, North Mara Gold Mine Limited, Bulyanhulu Gold Mine Ltd, and Exploration Minieres Du Nord Ltee.

The accused face 39 counts relating to transactions involving $4.7 billion (Sh10.7 trillion).

Seventeen of the 39 counts relate to money laundering; 8 to tax evasion; 7 to counterfeiting, and 3 to organised crime, while the remaining counts are on ‘submitting fake documents’ and ‘bribery.’

Regarding the conspiracy charge against both Mr Mwanyika and Mr Lugendo, it is alleged that the accused conspired to evade tax on different occasions between April 11, 2008 and June 30, 2017 – doing so in various locations in Dar es Salaam, Kahama, Tarime and Biharamulo in Tanzania, as well as in Johannesburg (South Africa), Toronto (Canada) and in the Barbados Islands of the United Kingdom.

In another count, the accused are alleged to have forged contracts in the aforementioned locations between April 11 2008 and May 29, 2008 which purported to show that Pangea Mines accepted to borrow $90 million from Barrick International Bank Corp, while knowing that it was an offense to do so.

In yet another count on tax evasion, it is alleged that the first-to-the-fifth accused intentionally fabricated documentation for the commissioner general of the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) between May 16, 2008 and December 31, 2008 – thus evading tax to the tune of $9 million which was duly payable to the national Revenue Authority.

In a joint charge against Mr Mwanyika and Mr Lugendo, it is alleged that the two carried out money laundering transactions valued at $9,309,600 between May 16, 2008 and May 25, 2008, which included forgery and tax evasion – and which involved Pangea Minerals Ltd and Exploration Minieres Du Nord Ltee.