Six weeks after de Guzman’s loss of life, the Busang gold dream was over for everybody, leaving traders in despair.
Bre-X Minerals’ C$6bn valuation had been decreased to nothing.
An impartial report would verify there was no gold in any respect on the Busang website. Rock samples relationship from 1995 to 1997 have been analysed and located to have been tampered with by means of a course of referred to as salting. Fragments of gold from one other supply had been sprinkled amongst rock samples through a saltshaker to falsify outcomes.
Nearly 30 years later, no-one has ever been held accountable for the rip-off.
Walsh maintained he knew nothing about it and died of a stroke in 1998. In 2007, a Canadian choose dominated that Felderhof had been unaware of the swindle and located him not responsible of insider buying and selling. The Dutch geologist died in 2019.
That brings us again to de Guzman. Had he taken his personal life to keep away from having to disclose that he had been the mastermind of the deceit?
His suicide notes increase issues, says Wilton.
For the podcast, a cousin, as soon as eliminated, of Felderhof – Suzanne Felderhof – says he had expressed doubt over whether or not de Guzman might ever have written them.
The notes point out bodily illnesses which, she says, her relative had by no means heard him complain about.
Wilton says one other suicide word was written to a Bre-X Minerals finance supervisor who de Guzman did not truly know. In it, certainly one of de Guzman’s wives’ names had been spelt incorrectly.
Dr Benito Molino was a member of the Filipino investigative group employed by de Guzman’s household to look at the proof as soon as the post-mortem stories had been launched.
Within the pictures of the physique discovered within the jungle, Molino says he noticed bruises on the neck and concluded de Guzman had died by strangulation.
“When he was useless, he should have been thrown out of the chopper within the jungle to make it seem he dedicated suicide,” Molino tells the podcast.
“In massive crimes, there’ll at all times be a fall man, so we do not consider that the true mastermind will probably be recognized.”
Or was the physique even that of de Guzman?
Based mostly on preliminary descriptions, it might seem the person had been useless for longer than 4 days – the time it took for the physique to be found – says forensic anthropologist, Dr Richard Taduran, who labored with Molino.
De Guzman’s spouse Genie additionally says the enamel have been intact on the physique that was discovered, and but her husband had false enamel. De Guzman’s dental data have by no means been launched by his household, says Wilton.
