Tanzanian prosecutors charged Archard Kalugendo, director of the state-run diamond and gemstone valuation unit, and government gemstone valuer Edward Rweyemamu on Friday with economic sabotage after they were accused of undervaluing an export-bound consignment of diamonds seized from a mine majority owned by London-listed Petra Diamonds.
The two were jointly charged with being responsible for $1.1 million of lost tax revenue.
Kalugendo, 49, and Rweyemamu, 50, are both employees of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. They were not allowed to enter pleas at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s court in Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.
Lawyers said the two officials will enter their pleas when the case is transferred to the high court, which has jurisdiction to hear economic sabotage trials.
The accused were denied bail and will be held on remand until the next hearing on Sept. 29. The pair face maximum jail terms of 20 years if found guilty.
The diamonds were seized as they were being exported to Antwerp, Belgium, from Tanzania’s main airport in Dar es Salaam on Aug. 31. Petra Diamonds said on Monday that it had halted operations at its Williamson mine after the government seized the diamonds and questioned some of its employees.
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