£5bn illegally taken out of Zambia over past decade, says report
Source: the guardian
More than £5bn has been illegally siphoned out of Zambia over 10 years, with most of it ending it up in offshore banks and tax havens, according to a report by financial transparency campaigners.
Washington-based group Global Financial Integrity blamed "crime, corruption and tax evasion" for the loss of $8.8bn (£5.4bn) from the resource-rich country.
The lost money, most of which can be traced to multinational copper mining operations, is equivalent to half of Zambia's GDP.
Dev Kar, an economist and co-author of the report, said: "They (big global mining companies) are robbing the opportunities for the countries to advance, it (the money) could have been used to build hospitals and schools, and lift the economy out of poverty."
Kar said it was very difficult to track where the money goes, but said most of it ends up in "offshore banks and tax havens".
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/17/5bn-illegally-taken-out-zambia-report
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