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Article: Zambian Government Refutes Cobalt Scam Report
- Article from:
- Xinhua News Agency
- Article date:
- February 19, 2001
CopyrightCopyright 2001 Xinhua News Agency. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The Zambian government has denied reports that it undervalued its
proceeds from cobalt sales and deliberately attempted to cover up
the scam involving 150 million U.S. dollars.
The New York Times last Friday published a story quoting a draft
audit report as saying that the scam involves irregularities in the
sale of cobalt and concentrates by the state-owned Zambia
Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM).
The report claimed that the Zambian government cover up part of
the proceeds in order to qualify for the Highly Indebted Countries
(HIBC) initiatives, for which Zambia had to show that it was not
making enough money due to a drastic fall in the prices of cobalt.
Government spokesman Newstead ...