Gold Mafia: Ewan Macmillan Apologises To Family, Friends, Fellow Zimbabweans
Ewan Macmillan, a businessman accused of gold smuggling and money laundering in Gold Mafia, a documentary by Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera, has apologised to his family, friends and fellow Zimbabweans. He claimed that he made the remarks captured in the documentary while under the influence of alcohol.
In the documentary, Macmillan claimed to have the ear of Zimbabwe’s President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and boasted that the President does whatever he was told to do. Macmillan also claimed to have had Mnangagwa intervene on his behalf in a dispute with Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mangudya.
However, Macmillan admitted that maintaining relationships with high-profile individuals comes at a high cost. According to Al Jazeera, Macmillan was previously jailed for gold smuggling in the 1990s and is allegedly part of a group of smugglers who work with Zimbabwe’s state-run refinery, Fidelity Printers and Refineries. A 2020 report by the International Crisis Group claimed that gold worth US$1.5 billion is smuggled out of Zimbabwe annually by syndicates linked to political elites. Macmillan claimed he has been bribing politicians to smuggle gold out of the country but now wants out.
Macmillan also made derogatory remarks about black people, stating that one should not do business with them as they are liars and investing with them may result in one losing their money.
In his recent statement, Macmillan apologised to his family, friends, and all those offended by his behaviour and comments, which he claimed were untrue, boastful, derogatory, and malicious. He said:
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I would like to apologise to my family, friends, fellow Zimbabweans and to all those people… offended (by) my behaviour and comments as shown in the recent Al Jazeera Gold Mafia series.
I made many statements under the influence of alcohol that were boastful, untrue, derogatory and malicious that have caused harm to those around me, in business with me… industry that I had worked in… Zimbabwe banking and financial sectors, and those in important positions of authority.
Macmillan added that he was “thoroughly embarrassed about the whole incident.”
After the Al Jazeera documentary was released, some individuals named in it threatened to sue the news network. Initially, the Zimbabwean government dismissed the allegations as a smear campaign, but later announced an investigation to clear its name. Some of the individuals accused had their bank accounts briefly frozen.
However, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) later directed financial institutions to unfreeze all the accounts and other financial assets, stating that there was no good cause for the freezing order to remain in place. The FIU explained that it had not identified any transactions or assets linked to money laundering or related financial crimes connected to the allegations made in the documentary. The FIU argued that it had conducted a thorough review of the matter and considered all relevant factors and found no evidence that the individuals had used the accounts in fraudulent transactions.
