ALBAWABA - Six individuals involved in the "gold scam," including Oswald Diangamo from Zambia and five Egyptian nationals, have been acquitted after the State chose to discontinue their espionage case through a legal procedure known as "nolle prosequi."
Gracelia Mulenga, the Principal State Advocate, announced in the Lusaka Magistrate Court that the Director of Public Prosecutions had entered a Nolle Prosequi for the six individuals.
Interestingly, as the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) entered into the nolle prosequi, resulting in the dropped charges for the six suspects.
Furthermore, Magistrate Chibwili has referred the espionage case related to the Gold Scam to the Lusaka High Court for trial. This means that the five other Zambian accused individuals, whose Gold Scam espionage charges are still pending, will now face trial in the Lusaka High Court.
The alleged Gold Scam was uncovered on August 13 at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport by the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) aboard an aircraft. Onboard, 602 pieces of what was later determined to be fake gold, weighing 127.2 kilograms, along with five million dollars in cash and weapons, were found.
Zambian authorities said later on that the pieces were not pure gold and were in fact mixed with zinc, copper, and nickel.
Zambian Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) revealed that 10 individuals were detained after the plane was seized at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, including one Zambian, one Spanish national, one Dutch national, one Latvian national, and six Egyptian nationals for possession of dangerous goods.
