Swiss businessman Nicola Bogdan Buzaianu has instructed his lawyers to start court action against the government of Zambia for defamation.
His lawyers have since indicated that they will be demanding $100-million in damages.
The action arises from recent assertions by Zambian President Michael Sata that 119kg of gold had disappeared “mysteriously” from the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) offices in Lusaka and that the people who were responsible had “sneaked” into Lusaka by private jet and met his predecessor, Rupiah Banda.
It turned out that it was Buzaianu, a resident of Nicosia, Cyprus, who on October 12 flew into Zambia by private jet and met Banda.
Sata’s claim has resulted in the former president breaking his silence for the first time since leaving office, to deny any wrongdoing.
Buzaianu is of Romanian origin and has had a long association with Zambia.
He was the country’s honorary deputy permanent delegate to Unesco, a position he recently relinquished, and he supports an educational project which he visited during this trip.
Sata has described him as a “fugitive”. He also linked him and the former president directly to the “mysterious” disappearance of the gold.
“It is very sad that the Drug Enforcement Commission seized gold but it went missing mysteriously.
“The people who bought it were in Lusaka a few days ago. They came with a private jet and saw my predecessor. The name is Nicola Bogdan Buzaianu,” Sata said.
He said that Buzaianu and two other men had arrived in Zambia on October 12. He was disappointed that they were able to “sneak” into the country without police detection, even though according to him they were on the wanted list.
He summarily dismissed the Lusaka police chief saying he had lost confidence in him for failing to take action.
But through his lawyers, Messrs Central Chambers of Lusaka, Buzaianu denied ever buying gold from the DEC or the Zambian government and has established that the gold in question was sold to two Swiss-based companies in which he has no interest.
Documentation released by the lawyers also show that the two companies followed all the procedures when buying the gold.
Buzaianu complains of having been “maligned and being grossly mistreated in the manner President Sata handled the matter.”
“Our client has instructed us to sue the Zambian government for the false and defamatory statement imputing that our client is a fugitive from the law and is on the Drug Enforcement Commission and Zambia police wanted or watch lists. Our client will be seeking US$100-million (one hundred million United States dollars) in damages.”
Buzaiau is the chairman of three companies in the electrical equipment and consultancy field. He is a shareholder in two firms with a combined turnover of about $900-million and is well connected in Swiss and European business circles.
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