After Goldenberg, Pattni now linked to Zimbabwe gold smuggling syndicate

Paul Kamlesh Pattni is a Kenyan businessman and pastor. He was implicated in the 1990s Goldenberg scandal but was acquitted in 2013. [File, Standard]

Kenyan tycoon Kamlesh Pattni accused of being the architect of a scandal that nearly ruined the economy has been implicated in a similar scandal in Zimbabwe.

Pattni, who was behind the Goldenberg International firm allegedly used in the 1990s to siphon an estimated $1 billion (Sh130 billion) from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), was last week cited as the mastermind of a similar gold smuggling scandal.

Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit (I-Unit), in a news report published on Thursday, said Mr Pattni has been operating a similar gold smuggling operation between Zimbabwe and Dubai. The Goldenberg scandal in Kenya led to charges of corruption against Pattni and senior government officials. Pattni was later acquitted after years of prosecution. Pattni, who later became a television preacher and parliamentary aspirant, adopted the name, Brother Paul.