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Gold/Mining/Energy : BRE-X, Indonesia, Ashanti Goldfields, Strong Companies.
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To: alan holman who wrote (26567)8/17/1997 1:18:00 AM
From: alan holman   of 28369
 
The Bre-X Saga:
Fortune or Folly?

RCMP probe far from over

Thursday 14 August 1997

Stephen Ewart, Calgary Herald

<Picture>Larry MacDougal, Calgary Herald / BRE-X: RCMP Insp. Peter Macaulay and Chief Superintendent Rod MacKay describe investigation during news conference Wednesday.

The RCMP took the unusual step Wednesday of holding a news conference to announce they are still a long way from solving the multibillion-dollar fraud case at Bre-X Minerals Ltd.

"We are at the stage of investigating, interviewing people and gathering evidence," said Chief Supintendent Rod MacKay of the RCMP's Alberta division office in Edmonton. "We aren't at the stage to approach or arrest any one."

But the Mounties were clear about one thing --EBre-X geologist Mike de Guzman is dead.

"We're satisfied Michael de Guzman did commit suicide and the body recovered was that of Michael de Guzman," said Insp. Peter Macaulay, the lead investigator in the Mounties 10-member Bre-X task force.

De Guzman fell to his death from a helicopter near the Busang mine site in Indonesia last March -- just as the Bre-X scandal erupted. His family raised doubts about how he died and questioned whether he is actually dead.

Macauley was one of the investigators who just returned from Indonesia, Australia and the Philippines. The month-long trip was used to gather evidence about Bre-X's Busang gold find in Indonesia to determine who was behind what has been described as the biggest mining fraud in history.

The Mounties contradicted media reports earlier this week that their investigation ran into a brick wall. Macauley said he was pleased with the co-operation from other police forces.

"We are not stumbling," added MacKay, who acknowledged it is unusual for the force to put a senior investigator before the media during an investigation. He said the force did so to clear up misconceptions about the case.

Macauley said he wouldn't divulge specifics but did offer a few tidbits. He said the Mounties:

- have interviewed de Guzman's close friend and Bre-X colleague Cesar Puspos;

- have not interviewed de Guzman's close friend and Bre-X colleague Rudy Vega although they believe Indonesian authorities know where he is;

- have interviewed Bre-X chief executive David Walsh;

- have not yet interviewed Bre-X chief geologist John Felderhof.

The Mounties also dismissed a report last month by investigators hired by Bre-X which said de Guzman bought gold used in the salting scam from local tribesmen and was the mastermind behind the fraud.

"We're certainly not taking our lead by any revelations that we're getting from outsiders who are doing parallel investigations," MacKay said.

Dermod Travis of a Montreal-based shareholders' rights group representing some people who lost money when Bre-X collapsed agreed it will take some time to complete the investigation. "This is going to take more than a year, probably upwards of three to five years, before it all unfolds and works its way through the court system."
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This web site is a supplement to the Calgary Herald,
a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Contents copyright 1997.

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