UK fines Kenyan businessman over illegal gold trade

The UK and US governments have imposed sanctions on a British-Cenyan businessman for his involvement in the illegal gold trade.

The assets of Kamlesh Pattni, and four others including his wife and brother-in-law, will be frozen, a a statement from the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office read.

He was involved in one of Kenya's biggest corruption scandals, Goldenberg, which is expected to cost the country at least $600m (£470m). He has since faced allegations that he was involved in illegal gold trading in Zimbabwe, which he has previously denied.

The BBC has asked for comment.

“Illegal gold is an attack on the legitimate trade of precious commodities, encourages corruption, undermines the rule of law, and combats human rights abuses such as child labour,” the UK statement read.

He says that Russia is using illegal gold to finance its war in Ukraine.

“Russia uses the illegal gold trade to launder money and evade sanctions, and to bolster Putin's (President Vladimir) war efforts.”

The UK and other Western countries ban on the import of Russian gold in 2022 to stop Moscow's ability to finance the war.

The UK said the sanctions were to “disrupt and hinder” Pattni's business operations.

He was reportedly one of the main architects of the Goldenberg scandal – a major gold and silver fraud in the 1990s that nearly bankrupted Kenya and involved senior members of the Kenyan government.

He faced legal action in 2006 for his alleged role in the scheme, but matters fell apart. After that Pattni became a self-proclaimed minister.

According to the US Treasury Department, Pattni was friends with former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and used this relationship to make money by exploiting the country's natural resources.

“This fraudulent scheme benefited the citizens of Zimbabwe from these natural resources while enriching corrupt government officials and criminal actors,” it read.

Pattni was involved in Al-Jazeera's explosive investigation into the “gold mafia” in Zimbabwe. He denied that he was involved in money laundering or gold smuggling.

The US Treasury Department said Pattni's illegal network spanned several countries.

The news comes as the UK government outlined a new program to help tackle global corruption.