WFDB vice-president denies trading in Marange diamonds

World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) President Avi Paz has clarified the claims published on WikiLeaks that WFDB Vice President Ernest Blom dealt in rough diamonds from Chiadzwa in the Marange area of Zimbabwe.

The claims were made in a cable sent in November 2008 by James McGee, the US ambassador to Zimbabwe, in which he quoted a third party, Andrew Cranswick, as making the accusations against Blom. Cranswick is the CEO of African Consolidated Resources (ACR), a mining firm that had its Chiadzwa diamond claim in the Marange district of Manicaland seized by the government-controlled Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ).

"Naturally, upon receiving these very disturbing allegations, I immediately contacted Mr. Blom, and asked him to react," Paz said. "Mr. Blom completely denied the accusations, saying it was 'unsubstantiated hearsay,'" Paz added. In a letter to the WFDB president, Blom stated: "I categorically deny any illegal trading or (that I) boasted about it as Cranswick allegedly said in the dispatch. I had never travelled to Harare before I went up there as part of the KP review mission in 2007. I have only ever met Cranswick twice in my life. The last time (was) more than a year ago when he tried to elicit my assistance to get his mine back, which I declined".

Blom, who is also a WFDB Honorary President, also said that Cranswick, in a statement made to the Johannesburg-based daily the Mail & Guardian, "denies ever having said what was printed in the dispatch or ever mentioning any name." "It is clear that this dispatch (published by WikiLeaks) is unsubstantiated hearsay and I reserve my right to take legal action against any person or establishment that brings my name into disrepute." Blom concluded.