Alleged Gold Smuggling Syndicate Siphons Over US$10 Million from Zimbabwe Formal Sector

A mining syndicate operating in Zimbabwe’s formal gold market is believed to have illegally diverted more than 120 kilograms of gold — valued at in excess of US$10 million — over a period of under two years, according to production data and internal documents obtained by investigators.

The company at the centre of the investigation, Podhill (Pvt) Ltd (Silobela, Kwekwe District), is co‑owned by Chinese national Zuo Wenzhong and Australian businessman Moham Karim. The business is accused of under‑declaring its output while running large‑scale unrecorded gold smelting operations.

According to official filings, Podhill declared less than 4 kg of gold for 2024, despite internal mine records showing it processed over 3,000 kg of ore every month and produced multiple gold batches off‑book.

Investigators say that in December 2024 the company’s carbon‑in‑pulp (CIP) processing line yielded nearly 1.5 kg of gold per batch, with payment notes showing transactions as high as US$16,000 handled via a partner identified as “Talib”. Yet only 300 g of that was officially delivered for refinement.

Between May and June 2024, Podhill’s heap‑leaching operation reportedly processed more than 3,000 kg of feed material and generated at least US$117,000 per smelt run, revenue investigators believe was never declared to Zimbabwe’s tax authority or the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).

Further financial analysis shows that small but very pure gold batches (flotation amalgam) were privately sold at US$70 per gram — significantly higher than the official price — to undisclosed buyers tied to foreign markets.

The syndicate is reported to have used private air cargo, cash transactions, and trusted couriers to move smelted gold from Zimbabwe’s Midlands Province to refiners in Dubai and China.

Podhill is controlled through a 95 % share held by Generous Resources (Pvt) Ltd, which is under Zuo’s control. Other linked companies identified in the probe include Milhub, as part of the wider network moving gold outside state oversight.

Key individuals named in the investigation include general manager He Huayang and director Duan Yuanbin, both Chinese nationals, along with associate Mohamad Taleb and business partner Moham Karim. They are alleged to have managed a sophisticated scheme that masked illegal extraction and export as legitimate mining.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Minerals and Border Control Unit is reportedly investigating the affair, with financial records, ledgers and photographs now forming part of the evidence being traced through the interconnected companies.

Industry watchers note that Zimbabwe’s gold sector is vulnerable to such diversion because gold is high‑value and low‑bulk, making it susceptible to leakage into international markets via weak enforcement and porous borders.