Amcu accuses Samancor of siphoning millions out of the country
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction
Union (Amcu) is taking Samancor Chrome to the high court.
This comes after a whistle-blower
furnished the union with what it says are damaging documents alleging fraud and
profit shifting.
Samancor Chrome is the world’s second-largest chrome mining
company.
Amcu is accusing Samancor of being behind R7.5bn worth of
corruption and illegal financial practices.
The union’s president Joseph Mathunjwa says some of the
suspicious figures included in the documents include the $125 million siphoned
off to a bank account at Nedbank in London in April 2007 owned by British
Virgin Island company Kerman’s BVI, to the benefit of three directors.
“Once again to the benefit of Kerma BVI and its three
Samancor directors and allegedly later to new owners of Samancor in 3009 and in
2013 and a needless write-off $29 million of debt owed by the marking company
to Samancor,” says Mathunjwa.
Mathunjwa also points out the documents shows what he
believes to be baseless management fees to the tune of $4 million paid since
2008.
“A flawed business deal with Syvania for the extraction of
chrome and platinum group metals from tailing dams since 2016, secured by a
bribe of 14.1 million shares in Sylvinia to two Samancor directors.”
Mathunjwa says the union will not stop for as long as
workers’ money is being stolen by “greedy capitalist colonizers”.
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