The director of Lima-based Universal Metal Trading, Jorge Zavaleta, awaits trial in the capital, charged by the Peruvian attorney general’s office with money laundering and trading illegal gold. He could face eight years in prison, according to attorney general’s office.
MKS’s subsidiary PAMP, a gold bullion supplier, was also mentioned in the El Comercio article as having purchased gold from Universal Metal Trading.
El Comercio says Universal Metal Trading sent 19 tons of gold to Switzerland “via KLM”. Another Peruvian gold trader, AS Peru, is alleged in the article to have exported more than 4 tons of gold, worth $210 million, to Geneva. AS Peru could not be reached for comment.
Illegal mining has devastated areas of the Madre de Dios jungle, with illegal deforestation followed by flushing of soils and mercury pollution.
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