Ewan Macmillan aka Mr Gold

Rushwaya did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for a formal comment about the investigation.Ewan Macmillan aka Mr Gold

Pattni’s arch-rival in Zimbabwe’s gold-smuggling industry, Macmillan is loud and loquacious. He was first jailed for gold smuggling in the early 1990s, when he was just 21 years old. By his own account, he has been to prison on several occasions since then.Now, he partners with the same Zimbabwean state machinery that once used to arrest him. Also known as Mr Gold, Macmillan is among a set of smugglers — including Pattni — who each work with Zimbabwe’s state-run refinery, Fidelity. He is also an acquaintance of Simon Rudland, a Zimbabwean millionaire who has been accused by South African authorities of money laundering.These smugglers have deals with Fidelity to deliver a quota of gold bought from small-scale miners to the refinery. They then export it to Dubai and provide hard currency for the Zimbabwean government. But like Pattni and Angel, this mechanism allows smugglers like Macmillan to also launder millions of dollars.

“There is an opportunity, a hell of a big opportunity to wash money here,” he told our reporters. “I can give my partner gold in Dubai and he can just pay you anywhere in the world.”Macmillan did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for a formal comment about the investigation. Rudland said that all allegations against him were false and formed part of a smear campaign by an unidentified third party.

Fidelity Printers and Refiners denied all wrongdoing.

The brains of Macmillan’s operation, Mathias is the “partner” the Zimbabwean smuggler referred to. A Canadian national, Mathias allegedly launders money for people all over the world, from Russians to African politicians. Mathias, who is based in Dubai, uses a web of companies and refineries to make sure money “gets moved around”, as he describes it.Mnangagwa and Angel did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for a formal comment about the investigation.

Rikki Doolan aka Pastor RikkiWhile Angel was suited and suave in his interactions, his deputy Doolan was more casual. He is a pastor in Angel’s Good News Church and a musician.

Doolan repeatedly told Al Jazeera’s undercover reporters that he and Angel would be able to arrange a meeting with President Mnangagwa.During the meetings, Doolan said money laundering would not be a challenge “as long as you grease the wheels.” The scheme Angel and Doolan suggested involved our reporters — who they believed to be Chinese criminals — sending over a billion dollars of illicit cash to Zimbabwe through Angel. Some of that would be used to purchase Zimbabwean gold, which Doolan said could then be transported to Dubai and sold for legitimate money. “It’s a good washing machine, right?” he said.