Acacia shares drop amid reports of fraud office probe

Shares in Acacia Mining dropped earlier amid reports that the Serious Fraud Office is looking into the company’s affairs in Tanzania.

The London-listed miner fell 3.76 per cent to 185.45 after the Wall Street Journal claimed an SFO investigation will focus on claims that the company’s employees bribed Tanzanian government officials and consultants.

The SFO told City PM it is unable to comment and cannot confirm or deny the existence of any investigations.

Acacia said it “is not aware that the SFO is investigating the company. However, Acacia has been in contact with the SFO about the allegations of corrupt activities in Tanzania which are the subject of proceedings in Tanzania.”

Last week Reuters reported that Acacia’s main shareholder Barrick has made progress in discussions with the Tanzanian government, however no deal has been reached yet.

Two years ago the government slapped Acacia with a tax bill claiming it had underreported the amount of gold coming out of its mines.

Officials hit the miner with a $190bn (£150.5bn) bill.

Four of its local employees and former employees were arrested in Tanzania in October, and three are still in detention, charged with so-called non-bailable offences.

In October 2017 the executive chairman of Barrick agreed a framework deal with President John Magufuli to pay the government $300m and give it 16 per cent ownership in the mines. Just weeks after the deal, chief executive Brad Gordon and head of finance Andrew Wray stepped down.

However the deal has not yet been implemented.