[wanabidii] Re: Congo-Kinshasa: Kenyans Named in Congo Gold Scam

Another Scammer: Steve Mbogo, also known as Steve Ndwiga, As gold scammer and gold thieves come, this guy should be put on every Gold blacklist. Steve Mbogo has a whole team with different roles, and even shows borrowed gold, pretending he has gold. Key is to not make any upfront payment whatsoever, you will never see your money again. A small time crook and con artist working out of a seedy Westlands office. Steve Mbogo pretends to dabble in politics, etc. but is really a cover for a small time gold Crook rolling in.borrowed fancy cars. He works out of a seedy officeinthe Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. Some other people in his team Zinet, Jacques Bendinga








On Tuesday, 3 January 2012 01:09:48 UTC+1, Miriga wrote:
> Folks,
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> This is why Congo election got corrupted........Raila and Museveni were running helter skelter
> in different directions as Congo election was nearing.......they prefered to have their corrupt
> buddy and interfere with election of Congo because they have their hands dipped in illegal
> corruption in Congo.......Top Government Officials in Kenya were also caught with all hands
> dipped in the corruption of Gold and Diamond deals in Congo.........This must stop and stop
> now........
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> Thank you all,
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> Judy Miriga
> Diaspora Spokesperson
> Executive Director
> Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
> USA
> http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
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> Congo-Kinshasa: Kenyans Named in Congo Gold Scam
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> Kevin J Kelley
> 1 January 2012
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> New York — The United Nations has named three Kenyans it says are involved in smuggling gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
> According to the UN report, the network based in Nairobi carries out deals involving large quantities of gold.
> Counterfeit gold is also brokered in Nairobi, the UN added in the report by a team of experts that monitors arms and mineral-trade sanctions against rebel groups in the DRC.
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> Transactions of both real and fake gold serve as a key source of financing for groups in the DRC, including criminal elements in the Congolese army, that are responsible for millions of civilian deaths in recent years.
> Kenya recorded no official imports of gold from the DRC in 2010 and 2011, notes the six-member UN panel, which includes a Kenyan arms expert, Mr Nelson Alusala.
> The report also thanks the Kenyan government for cooperating in the panel's wide-ranging investigations.
> A Kenyan national, whom the report names, is said to have played an integral role in illegal gold deals.
> The panel of experts examines in particular the sale of 2.5 tonnes of gold extracted from mines in Walikale in the DRC, smuggled to Nairobi and then sold in Thailand.
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> The Daily Nation
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> Weapons: The curse of the DR Congo.
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> Citing "several gold smugglers" as its sources, the UN panel says the 2.5 tonnes of gold was traded in Nairobi by Jean Claude Mundeke Kabamba, alias "Dako," a Congolese who pretends to be affiliated with the DRC military.
> His alias is included in a list of 15 alleged gold traffickers presented to President Kibaki by DRC President Joseph Kabila last February.
> Kenyan authorities subsequently discovered 400 kilogrammes of gold in Mr Kabamba's home in Nairobi, the UN report recounts.
> Mr Kabamba and two associates were arrested and later released on bail, the report adds.
> Mr Paul Kobia, a Kenyan national, is named in the 392-page report on the basis of information from the Kenyan CID as "the key individual behind most of the large gold scams in Nairobi."
> "According to documents found by the Kenya Police through raids on Kobia's properties," the report continues, "Kobia had a large number of commissioners working throughout the region selling counterfeit gold."
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> Mr Kobia and a Mr Joe Karimi, whose identity is not specified in the report, also run a gold refinery said to be used by "all the main gold smugglers in Nairobi."
> "Kenyan authorities and gold dealers informed the group (of DRC experts) that a Cameroonian national, known as Yusuf Omar, ran a fake company in Nairobi called Butembo Mining," the UN report further reveals.
> "Omar cooperates with Eddy Michel Malonga, also from Cameroon, and 'Robert', also known as 'Dr Roba,' a Kenyan national."
> "Sumbu Robert, alias Roba," is one of the 15 names on the list given to President Kibaki by President Kabila.
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> In November 2010, a Mr Paul Kobia Kabebria alias Paul Illunga Ngoei was arrested and charged with pretending that he was in a position to sell 825 kilogrammes of gold and consequently obtaining $200,000 (Sh16.2 million) from a South African, Mr Dennis Ray Schmelzenbach.
> The case against Mr Paul Kobia Kabebria alias Paul Ilunga Ngoei was documented as CR 121/818/2010, OB 47/8/11/2010, CF1904/2010.
> Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere had in March last year ordered officers from the Criminal Investigations Department to peruse documents related to gold trading in Kenya since 2008. (READ: Probe into smuggled gold deepens)
> He ordered the detectives and their counterparts from the DRC to retrieve documents related to transactions of the precious metal for scrutiny.
> Among documents retrieved included those from a local businessman under investigation.
> The documents were forwarded to the police boss and the CID director.
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> United Nations Experts' Group Issues Final Report on DR Congo
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> BLOG ENTRY — Quick notes on the GoE report
> DOCUMENT — UN Group of Experts' Report on DR Congo
> Some of the documents relate to transactions between Kolkata, India-based Net Results and DRC-based Kivu Mining involving 1,000 kilogrammes of gold nuggets in September 2010.
> Another set of documents signed in November 2010 include a private sale and purchase agreement between Groupe Miniere de Kisangani (GMK) and Meranti Holdings Ltd Joint Venture-Hong Kong involving the initial trial shipment of 825 kilogrammes.
> Police were also reported to have sought Interpol's assistance in investigating the syndicate that traverses South Africa, Dubai, DRC and Kenya.
> The investigation was reported to have been conducted by the CID, Immigration Department, Kenya Revenue Authority and detectives from DRC.
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> East Africa: Latest Museveni, Kagame Love-in Is All About 2016
> Charles Onyango-Obbo
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> 1 January 2012
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> No two African leaders have schmoozed as much as Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame have in the past six months.
> And they have done it the good old African way -- by actually staying in the host president's home, eating food from his garden and drinking milk from his cows.
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> After the infamous bloody clashes between the two countries' army in the eastern DR Congo where they were both "occupation" forces at the start of the 2000s, and long-running accusations that they were supporting each other's rebels, the two former guerrilla chiefs seem to have buried the hatchet.
> Museveni visited Kagame and stayed at his home for the first time at the end of July. A cattle-loving man, Museveni even went and checked out Kagame's cows. He was in Rwanda for four days.
> In mid-December, Kagame "revenged" (as Uganda dictator Idi Amin would have said) with a two-day visit during which he received a prize from a young professionals' association. Then just before Christmas, he was back again. The two leaders launched the rehabilitation of the Mbarara-Katuna-Kigali road, then Kagame and his family went to Museveni's country home of Rwakitura and chilled out there over the holiday.
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> Uganda backed Kagame's Rwanda Patriotic Army in the early days of the war it fought to regain the right of Rwandese refugees to return to their homeland. After the RPA took power in 1994, the two countries were so close that a Ugandan editor in Kampala was jailed for saying Rwanda was Uganda's 50-something-th district (that was before they shot to nearly 120 today), and describing the Rwandan leaders as Museveni-appointed governors.
> However, anyone who knows Kagame and Museveni will tell you they are not wet-eyed sentimental politicians. They generally tend to act out of cold strategic calculation, and instrumentalist motivation.
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> Therefore, below this new love-in, there is tough politics. Kagame knows that one reason the recent years of tension between Rwanda and Uganda didn't blow up into full-scale war, was the various layers of informal and close links between influential people in both countries, and a shared history between the two ruling parties.
> Kagame and several other Rwandan military officers fought in Museveni's guerrilla army, several lived in Uganda as refugees, or were born in Uganda.
> All the signs are that Kagame is stepping down at the end of his second seven-year term in 2017.
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> Museveni, who seems set to seek an East African record-breaking 7th term (two of them unelected) in 2016, probably senses he will be vulnerable.
> With South Sudan providing a buffer against (North) Sudan, an old adversary, the only country that could disrupt his ambitions if it chose to back dissidents, is Rwanda. When the time for Kagame's departure arrives, a cordial Kampala-Kigali relationship will ensure that, if nothing else, a virulent anti-Uganda nationalist will not take over.
> Better still, if a pro-Uganda leader comes in, then an elderly Museveni can go to bed a little easy.
> He will be able to afford to sleep with only one eye, not both, open.
> Charles Onyango-Obbo is Nation Media Group's executive editor for Africa & Digital Media.
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> Congo-Kinshasa: 'Congo Fatigue' Seen in U.S. Policy
> Kevin Kelley
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> 26 December 2011
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> The Obama administration is still formulating its response to elections held nearly one month ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
> The cautious US approach is evident in its hesitancy to reject the election outcome, despite independent monitors' conclusion that the results cannot be considered valid.
> The furthest the Obama administration has gone is to say it is "deeply disappointed" by the DRC Supreme Court's certification of President Joseph Kabila's victory in the disputed vote.
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> Although the US also said last week that the management of the "seriously flawed" elections "did not measure up to the democratic gains we have seen in recent African elections," Washington stopped short of opposing Kabila's return to power. According to provisional results, Kabila won 49 per cent of the vote while chief opposition candidate Etienne Tshisekedi garnered 32 per cent.
> The US refrained for a week from offering an assessment of the results which were announced on December 9. The silence was interpreted by some activists as an indication that the Obama administration prefers an extension of Kabila's rule rather than a takeover by a challenger viewed as potentially unfriendly to Western interests.
> It was not until December 15 that the top US diplomat for Africa told a US Senate panel "it is clear that the elections were deficient in many ways."
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> Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson further suggested that the actual winner of the vote cannot be determined. He did not offer a clear prescription for what the US should do next.
> Some analysts suggest this uncertain response may partly reflect what's become known as "Congo fatigue."
> A coalition of Africa-focused NGOs said last week, for example that it is "deeply troubled by the lack of critical engagement that the international community has shown throughout the electoral process in the DRC."
> Mr Carson noted in his December 15 remarks that the US has committed some $900 million this year for peacekeeping, humanitarian aid and development initiatives in the DRC. Yet the vast country continues to be poorly governed and torn by strife.
> At the same time, however, the resource-rich DRC is too important to ignore.
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> "I don't think the US has been complacent," comments Aaron Hall, a Congo expert with a Washington NGO that works to prevent atrocities in Africa. "I think it's more that the administration is trying to figure out what to do about a very difficult situation."Hall disagrees with critics who interpret the arm's-length US stance as a de facto endorsement of Kabila's continued hold on power. The US "has been burned so often by Kabila" that it's unlikely he is seen within the Obama administration as the preferred choice, Hall says.
> A leading Congolese activist in the US takes the opposite view, arguing "it's very clear the US supports the current regime." The reason, adds Kambale Musavuli, director of the Friends of the Congo advocacy group, is Kabila's deal-making with American and European mining interests.
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> From: Judy Miriga <jbatec@yahoo.com>
> Subject: $100m DRC gold disappears in Kenya...//...From Drug Smuggling to Gold Smuggling - Congo to Kenya
> To: "Judy Miriga" <jbatec@yahoo.com>
> Date: Tuesday, October 11, 2011, 5:21 AM
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> Folks,
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> African Poor life and blood cannot be a medium exchange for wealth.........Sanctity of Life must be
> valued, respected and dignified irrespectively............It is a gift from God...........Love, Peace and
> unity does not come from impoverishing, marginalizing or taking poor and valnerable for termination,
> excecution or assassination. Love does not Rob and steal from the poor. Happiness too does
> not come by enslaving or engaging in human Trafficking or even from the sale of Human Organs
> from the helpless and the underprivilleged poor from all walks of life.............Good life comes from
> the principle of "LOVE" in fair sharing of God's Gifts and Blessings...........Love is Natural, Love does
> not hate, Love does not kill, Love does not commit pain and long sufferings, Love is peaceful and
> love is always in search for good things.........Love is like flower it blossoms in favorable conducive environment..........Love shares with care and preservation.........How I Pray to God to fill all humanity
> with exceeding Love to make this world a better place according to His purpose for creation.........!!!
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> This is why I love you all..........knowing that one day, we will all shine in Love without measure......
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> Thank you all and God Bless us all........
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> Judy Miriga
> Diaspora Spokesperson
> Executive Director
> Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
> USA
> http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
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> From Drug Smuggling to Gold Smuggling - Congo to Kenya
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> OSCAR OTINDO
> Guest
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> Exit Drug Smuggling Enter Gold Smuggling.
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> Who has Kaila's gold? That was the million dollar question when Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) president Joseph Kabila confronted his Kenyan counterpart, Mwai Kibaki. To the astonishment of his visit, sources reveal that he had exact details of the gold's location, a warehouse in a place called Embakassi, and the people involved. He claimed that a government official who chose to remain anonymous revealed everything to him.
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> But why should the head of state confront his counterpart on a surprise visit and demand for immediate action to be taken accompanied by his mining minister alongside with other ministers and officials? In his visit Kabila raised concerns that whenever gold was smuggled from his country through Kenya all that went back to DRC were guns to destabilize his country not what is expected, money. Ships meant to dock at the Kenyan coast are hijacked by pirates in Somalia but at least the money is believed to be heavily invested in Kenya as billions are sent in Kenya annually to Somalia's living in Kenya. Why shouldn't the Congolese also benefit as in the case of Kenya when gold is smuggled from them instead they get weapons of mass destruction to destroy and kill them.
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> Having what he believed the exact location of the minerals in mind and the names of the people involved, the president demanded the police to visit the police to verify the reports and take immediate action if the reports are true. To make sure that the Kenyan authorities don't manipulate or alter anything, they are accompanied by Congolese police who tagged along with their head of state. This wasn't enough drama, his list of demands wasn't over yet, more drama unfolded when he demanded the Kenyan authorities to hold a press conference to show their commitment in pursuing to end the issue. This came after his second meeting with the Kenyan president, yielding to his demands; the Kenyan government spokesman and the Internal Security minister both hold a press with the minister alongside Congolese ministers expressing the country's commitment as obvious assuring the citizens their safety.
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> Kabila's objective of the visit wasn't just to make demands but to seek assistance in arresting people said to have disappeared with 2.5 tonnes of gold valued at Sh.8 billion, stolen from Eastern Congo. Detectives believe that the minerals were smuggled into Kenya on its way to Dubai, there were speculations that some of it made its way to South Africa. The gold as stolen in January.
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> A month before Joseph Kabila's visit in Kivu province DRC (a troubled region full of militias controlling the country's minerals) at the airport of Goma, a plane registered in the US, Dallas-Texas, was seized for gold smuggling. The jet is also investigation by the US Drug Enforcement for drug running.
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> The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), immigrations department and the Criminal Investigations Department has been conducting the investigations. KRA's Senior Assistant Commissioner, Joseph Cheptarus, who had been seconded to the investigations team was shot dead outside his house by three armed men as he was making his way in. He was shot four times on the stomach and left to bleed to death, the three gunmen ran with his Toyota SUV. In the same event, the president's home in Kinshasa was attacked by armed gunmen and a gun fight lasting several hours followed. The government spokesman called this an attempted coup but all these events have been linked to the lost minerals.
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> THE SMART NEWS SOURCE | Sep 24 2011 00:55 | LAST UPDATED Sep 24 2011 00:55
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> Gold smuggling a way of life in east DRC
> MICHELLE FAUL BUKAVU, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - Mar 06 2011 07:36
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> The tip-off led intelligence agents to an US jet loaded with half a tonne of gold, a Houston diamond merchant and a car chase that produced $6,8-million.
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> But since the February 5 bust on gold smuggling in the Democratic Republic of Congo, more than $5-million and 90kg of the gold have disappeared, according to official and banking sources who would not speak on the record for fear of reprisals.
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> The latest report about alleged gold smuggling stands out only because it has been made public, because of the huge amounts of gold and money involved, and because foreigners are being held. DRC's Ministry of Mines estimates that about 80% of the country's mineral production is smuggled out of the country, on planes, by road and by barge.
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> On Friday, the leaders of DRC and Kenya met to announce a joint investigation into mineral smuggling, which thrives despite a recent ban in DRC on mineral exploitation and trade in three eastern provinces. The danger is very real: A customs officer in Kenya was gunned down in what his family is calling a crime related to his investigation of smuggled gold from DRC.
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> DRC's government says it has detained American Edward "Carlos" St Mary, a diamond merchant from a Houston society family; Nigerian Mickey Lawal, half brother of Nigerian-born Houston oil tycoon Kase Lawal; French businessman Franck Stephane M'Bemba; Nigerian businessman Alexander Adeola Ehinmola and three American crew members.
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> All are being held on suspicion of gold smuggling, under guard at the Hotel Ihusi in Goma and not allowed to receive phone calls. Under Congolese law, if a person is suspected of a crime that carries a sentence of more than six months, they can be held for up to 112 days without charge.
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> Wild West
> Kenyan lawyer Punit Vadgama says his client, St Mary, is the victim of an elaborate con and never intended to do anything illegal. It is not known if the other detainees have lawyers acting for them.
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> Eastern DRC in many ways resembles the old Wild West of the United States -- only wilder, and much more dangerous.
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> Tribal tensions exploded after French troops allowed Rwandan genocide perpetrators to escape across the border in 1994. Tribal conflict segued into a civil war that soon ballooned into what some call Africa's World War -- armies from eight African nations and 25 local militias and foreign rebel groups fought above all for control of DRC's massive mineral reserves. Millions died.
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> DR Congo 'gold smugglers' charged in Kenyan court
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> 12 May 2011 Last updated at 07:30 ET
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> The gold trade fuels conflict in eastern DR Congo
> Three suspected gold smugglers from the Democratic Republic of Congo have been charged with fraud in a Kenyan court.
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> Their names appear on a list of DR Congo's 15 most-wanted gold smugglers, accused of stealing 2.5 tonnes of gold between July 2010 and February 2011.
> The men, arrested this week in Nairobi with 400kg of gold, deny the charges.
> Congolese officials see Kenya as a major hub in the illegal gold trade, which fuels conflict in the mineral-rich east of DR Congo.
> In March, Kenya and DR Congo agreed to jointly investigate the trade.'Gun-running'
> A Congolese diplomat in Nairobi, Bob Katamba, told the BBC that one of the suspects who appeared in court on Thursday, Jean-Claude Mudeke Kabamba, was believed to the ring leader of the trade.
> He said it was alleged he went by the alias "General Kabamba" and was believed to be gun-running for the Mai Mai rebel group in eastern DR Congo in exchange for gold.
> Kenyan police say a computer with valuable information about the clandestine trade was also seized this week.
> Gen Kabamba and two other suspects, Ruphin Kazadi Elumba and Jean-Claude Dyansangu Kanza, were charged with conspiracy to defraud a gold buyer of $1.4m by posing as legal gold dealers.
> The BBC's Odhiambo Joseph in Nairobi says the men are due back in court next Tuesday. Police say they expect to press more charges as their investigation is still going on.
> In February, a Kenyan official investigating a suspected case of gold smuggling was shot dead in Nairobi.
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> Three Gold Smugglers From DRC Charged In Kenyan Court
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> Thursday, May 12, 2011
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> The Democratic Republic of the Congo is notorious for gold smuggling: a recent estimate says about 80% of all gold produced in the DRC is smuggled out. Recently, the DRC and Kenyan governments have been co-operating in an effort to rein in gold smugglers. That effort has now borne fruit, as three men on the DRC government's most-wanted list have been arrested in Kenya and charged with fraud for allegedly smuggling 400 kg of gold.
> A Congolese diplomat in Nairobi, Bob Katamba, told the BBC that one of the suspects who appeared in court on Thursday, Jean-Claude Mudeke Kabamba, was believed to the ring leader of the trade.
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> He said it was alleged he went by the alias "General Kabamba" and was believed to be gun-running for the Mai Mai rebel group in eastern DR Congo in exchange for gold.
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> Kenyan police say a computer with valuable information about the clandestine trade was also seized this week.The specific charge on the three is conspiracy to defraud a gold buyer by posing as legal gold dealers.
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> Posted by Daniel M. Ryan at 10:25am
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> Who is stealing DRC's gold?
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> Miners doing their thing in the DRC. PHOTO BY AFP
> By Juakali Kambale (email the author)
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> Posted Sunday, April 10 2011 at 00:00
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> Fabulously rich in natural resources, the Democratic Republic of Congo is cash-poor because it cannot control the mining and sale of its mineral wealth. Juakali Kambale tells it all.
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> The city of Bunia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is synonymous with gold — which is why it's not rare to find its residents keeping nuggets of the precious metal in their homes.
> In the outskirts of the city, Okimo (Office de Kilo-Moto) has been mining gold since the colonial period when Belgium's King Leopold II treated the vast territory as his personal estate until the Belgian parliament forced him to cede the territory to the state in 1908.
> Okimo is the biggest gold mining company in the DRC currently producing about 160 kilogrammes per year. Production would have been higher if its plant wasn't decript.
> Around Bunia, freelance mining is allowed as long as you sell the gold to Okimo. However, the freelancers prefer to sell their gold, illegally of course, to buyers from Kenya and Uganda who pay more.
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> Open trade
> In the city of Goma, 450 kilometres south of Bunia in North Kivu Province, the evidence of illegal gold trade is obvious. In February, a privately-owned aircraft registered in USA was seized for allegedly being used in illegal traf ficking of gold.
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> It had a motley crew and passengers comprising American, British and Nigerian nationals.
> According to local officials, 450 kilogrammes of gold and around $6 million (Sh500 million) were found in the plane. On March 14, the aircraft was flown to Kinshasa where the crew members and the passengers are in police custody.
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> In spite of Bunia's and Goma's mineral wealth, the region is ravaged by deep poverty. What is more, the perennial instability in eastern DRC has a direct link with the availability and illegal exploitation of precious minerals.
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> For more than ten years, wars and rebellions have wracked eastern DRC. Thousands of traumatised Congolese say they would like to live very far away from this "resource mattress" of gold, coltan, cassiterite, diamonds or timber considering the suffering they have faced, more so from hegemonic neighbours like Uganda and Rwanda.
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> Says Aloys Kaberuza, a Rwandan living in the DRC: "How can't one understand why the Congo is frequently subject to attacks from neighbouring countries considering that God put all the natural resources at the DRC side of the border and nothing on our side?"
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> Export network
> The minerals are illegally exported through a network of foreign companies without the knowledge of the Congolese government. In early March, President Joseph Kabila travelled to Nairobi to discuss the illegal trade of DRC gold and in particular a huge consignment of 2.5 tonnes and valued at Sh10.5 billion that had been flown into Kenya and disappeared.
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> "There is a great deficit of communication after the presidential trip to Nairobi. We would like to know which gold is involved and where exactly it was stolen from," says Lutu Mbega, an MP from the Bunia region.
> The city of Nairobi is considered in DRC to be a key transit point for smuggled Congo gold to other cities such as Dubai, Brussels, Hong-Kong and London but the shaky DRC government simply does not have the capacity to neutralise the gold-smuggling ring.
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> Mobutu Sese Seko's regime concentrated on the very big mining companies which, between them, accounted for 80 per cent of the national income. These were Gecamines (Générale des Carrières des Mines) based in Katanga Province and MIBA (Minière du Bakwanga) in Kasai-East Province. Gecamines mined and processed copper while MIBA specialised in diamonds. The two companies have virtually collapsed. Today, things remain unchanged. The government prefers the big companies at the expense of small scale, freelance mining operations. At some point under the Mobutu regime, the exploitation and the trade in mineral resources was liberalised.
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> That meant anybody was free to exploit mineral resources anywhere in the country as long as he sold the product to the government through specialised public companies. In other words, direct exportation, circumventing the government was illegal. The illegal mining intensified in September 1996 during the rebellion in eastern DRC that was backed by Rwandan and Ugandan forces.
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> Both Rwandan and Ugandan troops were targeting the main mineral sites close to the border. In Rwanda, the so called "Congo Desk" and various businessmen were involved in the extraction and sale of DRC minerals. In Uganda highly-placed military figures were implicated as well.
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> Mineral scramble
> In 2000, the troops from the two countries fought in the DRC city of Kisangani over the control of diamond sites. Since then, the illegal extraction of DRC gold became 'privatised' under the various rebellions that were instigated by either Rwanda or Uganda.
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> And, as the big guns boomed, DRC warlords got involved in the illegal businesses in order to equip their own militias with arms and other supplies. Despite the signing of the Pretoria peace deal in 2002, the illegal business has never stopped. There are no airfields in the Walikale District in the east but many small aircraft from 'nowhere' land daily on a strip of road in the bush in this remote area.
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> Locals can see this clearly organised activity every day. The planes offload parcels containing clothes or medicines and money and take off with loads of minerals. Few know the origin and the destination of these flights. According to some observers, the aircraft generally fly back to Kigali or Nairobi.
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> According to local sources, the buyers of Congolese minerals are a mixed bunch: native Congolese, and trans-border traders from Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. Multinational companies and some international banks have been mentioned as being involved in the racket.
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> The sellers are an equally varied mix. Leaders of the FDLR Rwandan Hutu militia, members of the CNDP Tutsi militia of Bosco Ntaganda, officers of the Congolese army, and assorted other militias active in eastern DRC. In fact, credible sources in Goma suggest that Gen Ntaganda could have been involved in the transactions linked to the American-owned plane that authorities seized in February.
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> dieudonnejk@gmail.com
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> Kenyan CID investigate DRC gold
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> Thursday, 10 March 2011 00:01 BY STAR REPORTERS
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> PROBE: Kibaki, Kabila, Raila
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> The investigations into Congo gold in Nairobi were sparked off by a complaint from a South African firm that wanted to authenticate an offer by a Kenyan businessman to sell 13.6 kg of the precious metal. A kilo of gold today is worth US$28,000 or Ksh2.25 million.
> The South African firm reportedly contacted the Congolese authorities to confirm whether they had authorised the export of gold worth Sh32 million.
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> The Congo authorities then raised questions resulting in the Nairobi visit last week of President Joseph Kabila requesting President Kibaki's assistance in recovering 2.5 tonnes of gold worth Sh5.6 billion.
>
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> A joint task force of Congolese and Kenyan police are investigating how the 13 kg of gold came from the Congo to Kenya to South African buyers through Dubai.
>
>
> Detectives on Tuesday visited the Registrar of Companies in Nairobi searching for records of several companies associated with Nairobi businessman Paul Kobia.
>
>
> Among the companies being looked at were Great Lakes Autotech International, Great Lakes Mining, Great Lakes Homes, Sapphire Freighters, Zilicon Freight, Gem Point Mining, Mbuzi International, Sapphire Motors, Zilicon Motors, World Roof International and Transit Shelters.
>
>
> The investigations team also wants to establish the relationship between Kobia and Paul Ilunga Ngoei, a Congolese national. Kobia told the Star recently that he was a legitimate businessman trading in gold and said he was being unfairly victimised.
>
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> Yesterday he was not available for further comment as his phone number had changed and he was not at his former offices in View Park Towers. Kobia has been named in two other cases being investigated by the CID.
>
>
> The South African national Dennis Roy claims he was conned out of Sh45 million by racketeers claiming they were selling him gold that turned out to be gemstones from Kisii.
> The Banking Fraud Investigation Unit reportedly froze Kobia's bank account following Roy's complaints in November last year. The account reportedly held Sh800 million but Sh17 million had been moved to Kobia's lawyers' account by the time police got the order freezing the account.
>
>
> Following the complaint by Roy, CID officers raided Kobia's offices at View Park Towers and impounded several documents including one from the Central Bank of DRC giving Kobia authority to trade in gold. The police also collected some metal from a garage in Karen thought to be gold. The clearing and forwarding agent George Mutiso was later charged with defrauding Roy.
>
>
> Last week, Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere hinted that investigations into the gold smuggling syndicate involved a Nairobi businessman who had smuggled gold out of DRC and conned people out of money in a dubious gold trade.
>
>
> Iteere did not identify the businessman and efforts to get him, the CID director Francis Muhoro or police spokesman Erick Kiraithe to comment were fruitless as their phones went unanswered yesterday.
>
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> The Star established that the CID were investigating yet another incident where six Britons have complained they were conned out of Sh7.2 million by a businessman who claimed he could sell them gold.
>
> Gold Smuggling Suspects Transferred to Congo Capital for Trial - BusinessWeek
> Published By: DRC-Kinshasa - Thursday, 17 March, 2011
>
>
> Gold Smuggling Suspects Transferred to Congo Capital for TrialBusinessWeekMarch 16 (Bloomberg) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo transferred four foreign nationals accused of smuggling more than $25 million in gold and cash to the capital, Kinshasa, for trial, according to Julien Paluku, ...and more »...
> read more...
>
>
>
> Kenya is a key player in the smuggling of Gold in Congo DRC
>
>
> Posted: August 14, 2011 - 20:38
> Posted by siteadmin
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> caption: Congo miners
>
>
> By Scott A Morgan
>
>
> In recent weeks there has been several items regarding the one year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Financial reform law. There is a section of that law that sought to address the flow of minerals out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Recently a paper was released in Belgium that critiqued the trade of one specific mineral and it should raise eyebrows.
>
>
> From September 2010 to March of this year a Presidential Decree by Joseph Kabila was in order for the Kivu Provinces and Maniema. This decree suspended the exploration of and exportation of minerals that were mined in these strife torn provinces in the Eastern part of the Country. There are a couple of points that need to be addressed.
>
>
> The hypothesis behind the paper by IPIS (International Peace Information Service), which is based in Belgium, was that the Decree was a failure in its attempt to restrict the flow of Congolese Minerals to neighboring countries. As a matter of fact the report focused on the Gold Trade through Kenya.
>
>
> There were two high profile incidents involving the shipment of Gold through Kenya earlier this year. One resulted in the Death of a Police investigator in Nairobi who was shot to death while investigating the reported smuggling of two and a half tons of Congolese Gold. This incident led to a Meeting between President Kabila of the DRC and President Kibaki of Kenya. What is interesting is that President Kabila seemed to be knowledgeable about the individuals that were suspected of using Kenyatta Airport as a transit hub to smuggle this precious metal.
>
>
> Another incident that should raise eyebrows was the reported involvement of a US Company in the smuggling of Gold out of the Congo through the Airport in Goma. This Company CAMAC is based Houston, Texas and its owner Kase Lawal holds dual citizenship between the US and Nigeria. Another key fact is that Mr. Lawal is on the Advisory Committee of Trade Policy and Negotiation. He was appointed to this position by President Obama.
>
> These are not the only ties that Mr. Lawal has in Washington, D.C. however. He was on the Presidential Trade Advisory Committee for both Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush. He was also a major fundraiser for the Hilary Clinton Campaign for President in 2008. He was also indicted in Nigeria back in 1999 for reportedly defrauding the Nigerian Government of 10 Million Barrels of Oil.
>
>
> Earlier this year a plane leased to CAMAC Aviation was detained at the Goma Airport. According to reports Forces loyal to Bosco Ntaganda a General in the Congolese Army unloaded $6.5 Million in Cash from a Learjet. Afterwords over 400 kilograms of Gold was reportedly loaded onto the aircraft. The deal fell through when the Gold was seized and the Nigerian Businessmen on board the aircraft were detained.
>
>
> From the information presented in the paper it can be assumed that Kenya is a key player in the smuggling of Gold outside of the Country. Therein rises a new question to be asked. Should those who call for the Implementation of Public Law 109-456 now ask for sanctions to be levied against Kenya? Secondly will the SEC investigate CAMAC for its actions in smuggling Gold outside of the DRC? These are issues need that will need to
> The Author Comments on US Policy towards Africa and publishes Confused Eagle on the Internet. It can be found at confusedeagle.livejournal.com
>
> Nice article, a few NIgerians
> Submitted by Gardener (not verified) on August 16, 2011 - 09:27.
>
> Nice article, a few NIgerians are rumoured to be involved in the trade but few proven cases. I did not know Lawal will get himself into these type of business but one man called Capital selling kerosene is the leading man rumoured to have been involved years ago. But the truth is that the country and its people do not care if NIgerians loot other peoples treasures or mines. It does not diminish the general attitude of the people towards this businessmen. If true that Lawal is involved, he knows that he can always come back to Nigeria and become a local champion.
>
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> $100m DRC gold disappears in Kenya
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> 3rd March 2011
>
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> President Mwai Kibaki (left), DR Congo President Joseph Kabila (centre) and Prime Minister Raila Odinga (right) at Harambee House, Nairobi on March 3,2011. Photo/Presidential Press Service
>
>
> By Blamuel Njururi, Nairobi
> Two African presidents are chasing
>
> $100 million gold smuggled from the Democratic Republic of Congo that disappeared in Kenya last January. Four businessmen, including two US nationals, have been detained by DRC police in Goma in connection with the gold consignment.
> The president of mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, Joseph Kabila flew to Nairobi Thursday, for emergency talks with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in a bid to track down the $100m gold consignments stolen and smuggled from his country to Kenya by an international cartel.
> Kabila's trip was a desperate bid to recover the gold that disappeared in Kenya two months ago, and other minerals regularly smuggled from the war-torn country. Kabila banned diamond and gold mining in North and South Kivu last September because the precious stones are the lifeline of guerrilla activities in the DRC.
> The DRC president landed in Nairobi as a Nairobi law firm, Shapely Barret and Company coincidentally released a letter it wrote to the Congolese President revealing details of one stolen gold consignment. It revealed Kenya was at the centre of the multi-billion shilling gold smuggling ring, spanning several countries.
> Kabila's visit came two weeks after two of his ministers — the Minister for Regional Co-operation, Raymond Tshibanda, and the Mines Minister, Martin Kabwelulu — met Kibaki in Nairobi to request Kenyan authorities to arrest the culprits, intercept the $100 million haul and surrender it to Kinshasa if found.
> Kenya's Criminal Investigations Department (CID) boss Ndegwa Muhoro Thursday and Friday spent time, briefing acting foreign minister also internal security minister George Saitoti and Kabila's delegation on the status of the investigations already launched by Kenyan authorities.
> The Kenyan CID has been conducting the investigations together with the KRA and the Immigration Department. The investigating team has established that Nairobi had become a popular transit point for gold merchants from the DRC, serving genuine and illegal trade for overseas markets, because of lax security.
> The top level talks came within days of the murder of a Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) investigator, Joseph Cheptarus, who was on the trail of the smuggling ring that also, include a business woman with close ties with the Kenyan leader, and the family of a minister allied to Prime Minister Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement.
> The slain KRA senior assistant commissioner, Cheptarus, had been seconded to the investigations team. He was shot dead at around 1.15am last Saturday, as he entered his home in Nairobi's South C Estate.
> With porous borders and highly corruptible Immigration officials, Kenya is often used as a transit route for minerals, hardwood timber, and artefacts from DRC destined fo...

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