Canada's Bre-X says dead geologist ordered fraud<\/p>\n
TORONTO (Reuter): Investigators hired by Canada's Bre-X
\nMinerals Ltd have said its dead chief geologist, Michael de
\nGuzman, orchestrated the world's biggest gold swindle deep in the
\njungles of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The investigators' report released Tuesday said de Guzman, who
\ndied of an apparent suicide shortly before the fraud was exposed,
\nled a small group of Bre-X employees who salted samples from the
\nBusang site over a four-year period.<\/p>\n
Bre-X hired Forensic Investigative Associates Inc (FIA) to
\nprobe the mining scandal last spring when the C$6 billion stock
\nmarket darling was reduced to worthless paper after Busang was
\nfound to be a scam.<\/p>\n
Bre-X released a three-page summary of the agency's 430-page
\ninterim report Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The FIA report absolved Chief Executive Officer David Walsh
\nand several other key players in the Busang saga of any
\nwrongdoing.<\/p>\n
But it said exploration chief John Felderhof's role in the
\naffair \"is still an open question\".<\/p>\n
FIA said it had \"reasonable and probable grounds\" to believe
\nthat de Guzman and Bre-X employee Cesar Puspos conspired with
\nothers \"to defraud Bre-X and the public in Canada and elsewhere
\nthrough the deceitful salting scheme\".<\/p>\n
It said the tampering began in December 1993 to prevent the
\nBusang site from being closed after initial assay tests indicated
\nthere was no gold.<\/p>\n
\"We believe Michael de Guzman, who may or not have been at
\nBusang at the time, instructed Cesar Puspos to salt samples for
\nthe two subsequent holes,\" the report said.<\/p>\n
FIA said the salting continued until early March 1997 and
\neventually drew in other Bre-X employees at the site.<\/p>\n
On March 19, de Guzman fell out of a helicopter as he returned
\nto the project to meet with geologists from Bre-X partner
\nFreeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.<\/p>\n
\"We believe he killed himself when faced with the prospect of
\nhaving to be exposed for salting Bre-X samples,\" FIA said.<\/p>\n
Dozens of lawyers in Canada and the United States have
\nlaunched class-action suits against Bre-X and its officials on
\nbehalf of angry shareholders.<\/p>\n
A lawyer representing about 100 Canadian investors in Bre-X,
\nsaid Tuesday he expected to file the latest of several multi-
\nmillion-dollar lawsuits against the company and its management
\nwith an Alberta court yesterday.<\/p>\n
FIA investigators said they found no evidence that Walsh, his
\nwife or other senior officials were involved or had any knowledge
\nof the tampering in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Of Bre-X's former exploration chief, FIA said \"the issue of
\nJohn Felderhof's participation or knowledge is still an open
\nquestion and judgment on him must be reserved until the
\nappropriate additional investigation has been completed\".<\/p>\n
Felderhof, who was fired by Bre-X in the wake of the scandal
\nand now lives in the Cayman Islands, has denied any knowledge of
\ntampering at Busang.<\/p>\n
The top investigator in the case for the Royal Canadian
\nMounted Police, which began a worldwide investigation into the
\nscandal in May, said he was unable to comment on the FIA report
\nuntil yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"I just want to go through it a little bit more...there won't
\nbe anything done tonight on it,\" Insp. Peter Macauley said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/canadas-bre-x-says-dead-geologist-ordered-fraud-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}