Zimbabwe Finance Minister Tendai Biti's efforts to collect all the revenue from recent diamond sales could have "dire repercussions" for the country, the Zimbabwe Telegraph has quoted unnamed government insiders saying.

Following reports that some $100 million from sales of Marange diamonds had never made it to the state coffers, Biti ordered an audit of all revenue from diamond sales, instructing the Accountant General and the Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to verify the amounts of the diamond sales. Biti said he "hoped officials were not speculation with this money."

Biti said that according to the figures at his disposal, the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) had reported sales totaling $172.4 million, but the Treasury had only received $62.1 million.

The government sources reportedly said that Zimbabwe – whose diamonds still haven't received final approval for export from the Kimberley Process – was using "sanction-busting methods" to get money for its diamonds and that making the details of the transactions public would result in the diamond companies being put under sanction.