Dan Gertler and the Magnitsky Sanctions, Loopholes, State Sanctioned Violations, Trump, Guiliani and Billions
We have written and opined at great lengths about Dan Gertler, the mining tycoon sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act sanctions and the final gift from President Trump to Gertler, a lifting of those sanctions. Make no mistake, that lifting was unsurprising when coupled with the Guliani Ukraine affair. To those of us who followed the ever-changing political landscape in the DRC, the US’s unbridled support of an otherwise undemocratic election in the DRC, the securities’ firms that played a role in the movement of information, and the tail numbers of Gertler’s planes coupled with the travels of Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph Guiliani, this political-financial network was foreseeable. It was our opinion then and now, that Guiliani was paid for his liaison services, which were blessed through a web of quasi-legitimate securities’ firms. Beyond that, in what capacity Guiliani was traveling to the Ukraine fairly regularly, and his labyrinthine ties to Ukraine at that time remain the subject of debate.
We have opined about the various loopholes and veritable crawl spaces that have allowed Gertler access to millions, if not billions of dollars, otherwise unavailable under the Magnitsky Sanctions Regime. Some of this money was allegedly owed to Gertler by Glencore. The “praise” bestowed upon Gertler by foreign diplomats is almost embarrassing, but may have been required to get cooperating countries on board with the payment scheme. The workaround was craftily organized by funneling money through a payment system of mazes to Gertler via a series of Euro-based workarounds which required the assistance of the Swiss banking network and US Government intervention. It is unlikely the Swiss would have been involved absent a very public statement by the US. It is our opinion that the loopholes were identified and manipulated by President Trump and, in our opinion, Rudolph Guiliani, Paul Manaford and others within the Trump orbit.
Whether or not we have it all perfectly figured out remains a job for those with far higher pay grades.
While Gertler claims all of his actions in the DRC have been above-board, we think that depends upon whose morality and ethics one is using as the exemplar upon which all else is measured. As we see the world, Gertler’s almost unforgivable use of underpaid members of the DRC to afford him unquantifiable wealth is not a paragon of the divine intervention of his religious system of beliefs. Moreover, Gertler’s willingness to manipulate financial systems such that banks, investment companies and frankly heads of states and countries made his acquisition of wealth all possible, is all the more unsettling.
We have spoken about the brothers Gertner , Moshe and Mendy, whom Gertler all but destroyed financially and then paid off attorneys and others to solidify his position with respect to keeping Gertler’s story straight. We have written about the private investigative and “reputation management” firms that helped him pull off the whole narrative to surgical precision. In fact, according to ongoing news reports, each time the brothers Gertner have attempted to prove the depth of the Gertler scheme and the lies, bribes, potential blackmail and extortion regime created by Dan Gertler, Gertler has managed to flip the pieces on the board. It’s like a game of Othello where the chips are turned as the opposing player looks away. The story of the brothers Gertner prove that there are few who cannot bought, at least in Gertler’s world, leaving those who have been harmed by his actions and entanglements at a loss to prove the truth. One cannot underestimate the lengths to which Dan Gertler will go to keep his power and wealth; and sadly the ethically challenged people in the world of finance, legislation, judicial and political power-brokering, mining and private security and investigations across several continents, who are willing to sell their souls and act as facilitators.
It is proof that truth is stranger than fiction.
The announcement that President Biden has reversed Trump’s valuable gift to Gertler is for some of us, worthy of a great sigh of relief. As we have stated countless times, the crimes of Gertler and his empire are endless, though he denies all wrongdoing.
How Washington Got on Board With Congo’s Rigged Election
When the results of the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were announced last month in favor of the candidate Felix Tshisekedi, officials from government agencies across Washington worked together to craft a U.S. response. Independent groups in Congo had detected widespread fraud in the vote, so U.S. officials agreed to condemn the process as rigged and vowed to hold those involved responsible.
But the statement that came out of the U.S. State Department on Jan. 23 caught some of the policymakers who worked on the region by surprise. Instead of condemning the election as “deeply flawed and troubling,” following the language of the original draft, the United States endorsed the results—with minor caveats—and offered praise for the election.
By doing so, the Trump administration went further than any of its Western counterparts or international organizations in embracing Tshisekedi, who many in Congo believe cut a corrupt deal with outgoing President Joseph Kabila to gain power.
The changes in the wording were dictated by a small group of diplomats, sources told Foreign Policy. They made some senior decision-makers in Washington “livid,” according to one senior U.S. official. To them, the new statement undercut the legitimacy of the United States in one of Africa’s largest and most influential countries just as it was undertaking its first peaceful transition of power in six decades.
The story of how the United States came to offer a full-throated endorsement of Congo’s election is being told here for the first time, based on interviews with nearly a dozen current and former U.S. officials and experts briefed on the internal deliberations. It sheds light on the chaotic policymaking process that has become emblematic of the Trump administration.
The story of how the United States came to offer a full-throated endorsement of Congo’s election is being told here for the first time, based on interviews with nearly a dozen current and former U.S. officials and experts briefed on the internal deliberations. It sheds light on the chaotic policymaking process that has become emblematic of the Trump administration.
“Everyone knew the elections were crap, but … they thought they had to accept [Tshisekedi], [that] they had no other recourse here,” one former U.S. official briefed on the internal deliberations said.
Foreign Policy
Trump administration quietly eased sanctions against Israeli mining magnate Gertler
DAKAR (Reuters) – In its final week in office, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration eased sanctions against Israeli mining magnate Dan Gertler that were imposed for alleged corruption in Congo, according to a license issued by the Treasury Department.
The license, which was not announced publicly, was issued by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), according to a Jan. 15 letter to Gertler’s lawyers that was obtained by The Sentry, a Washington D.C.-based anti-corruption group, and seen by Reuters.
It was not clear why the license was issued. A spokesman for Gertler welcomed the move but anti-graft campaigners urged President Joe Biden’s Treasury to revoke the license.
A Treasury spokesman said the Biden administration was aware of the action, but declined to comment on whether it would move to undo it.
Treasury imposed the sanctions in December 2017 and June 2018, accusing Gertler of using his friendship with Democratic Republic of Congo’s former President Joseph Kabila to secure sweetheart mining deals worth more than a billion dollars.
The sanctions prohibited Gertler from doing business with U.S. citizens, companies or banks, effectively barring him from doing transactions in dollars.
Reuters
State Department revokes Trump-era exception for sanctioned Israeli billionaire
The State Department on Monday revoked a special license issued by the former Trump administration for Israeli billionaire businessman Dan Gertler, reinstating sanctions put in place over alleged corruption occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Gertler, an Israeli, mining-business magnate, was granted a special license in the waning days of the Trump administration that allowed him to carry out international transactions that were barred by sanctions imposed in 2017 and renewed in 2018.
“The license previously granted to Mr. Gertler is inconsistent with America’s strong foreign policy interests in combating corruption around the world, specifically including U.S. efforts to counter corruption and promote stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.
This Hill
Biden Administration Reinstates Sanctions on Israeli Mining Magnate Gertler
The United States on Monday revoked a sanctions waiver for Israeli mining magnate Dan Gertler that was issued in the last days of the Trump administration, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
“The license previously granted to Mr. Gertler is inconsistent with America’s strong foreign policy interests in combating corruption around the world, specifically including U.S. efforts to counter corruption and promote stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Treasury said in a statement.
Haaretz reported earlier this year that associates of the Israeli billionaire, who has been embroiled in a years-long, multi-million dollar corruption scandal in the Democratic Republic of Congo, effectively helped him evade sanctions.
On January 15, just five days before Donald Trump vacated the White House, the U.S. Treasury informed Gertler that it was substantially easing sanctions imposed on him. Gertler was represented by Trump ally Alan Dershowitz and former FBI director Louis Freeh.
Haaretz
After Trump eased them, Biden reinstates sanctions on Israeli mining tycoon
The Biden administration reimposed sanctions on Monday on Dan Gertler, an Israeli billionaire accused of corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Gertler won an unusual reprieve from the sanctions in the final days of the Trump presidency.
On Monday, the US Department of the Treasury, in consultation with the Department of State, revoked the previous administration’s move.
“The license previously granted to Mr. Gertler is inconsistent with America’s strong foreign policy interests in combatting corruption around the world, specifically including US efforts to counter corruption and promote stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
The US State Department hit Gertler with sanctions in December 2017 under the Global Magnitsky sanctions act for “opaque and corrupt mining deals” struck with help from his friend, then-Congolese president Joseph Kabila.
The Times of Israel
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