US authorities have implicated Cape Town multimillionaire Walter Hennig‚ an associate of politician-businessman Tokyo Sexwale‚ in the bribery of officials of three African countries for mining rights — including‚ apparently‚ the president of Guinea.
Hennig’s Palladino Holdings entered a joint venture named Africa Management with US hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management Group and Sexwale’s Mvelaphanda Holdings in 2008 to invest in natural resources.
Och-Ziff announced in 2014 that US authorities were investigating it for bribery in Africa. Earlier in August it said it had put aside $414m for a potential settlement.
In the first overt sign that the probe encompasses the activities of Och-Ziff’s South African partners‚ US authorities arrested Samuel Mebiame‚ the son of a former Gabonese prime minister on Tuesday.
Mebiame had allegedly worked as a fixer for Palladino‚ Africa Management and a mining company in which they were invested.
The criminal complaint against Mebiame‚ filed in New York‚ alleges Mebiame "routinely (paid) bribes to foreign government officials" to get mineral rights for the companies.
It does not identify Hennig by name‚ but refers to "co-conspirator #1"‚ to whom it alleges Mebiame reported directly.
Co-conspirator No1 is identified as the "beneficial owner" of a company in the offshore haven of Turks and Caicos‚ a reference to Palladino. Hennig’s lawyer has confirmed his client was the beneficial owner.
He said on Wednesday he was unable to reach Hennig or Palladino for comment. Och-Ziff declined to comment.
Among others who are alleged to be complicit‚ the complaint identifies "co-conspirator No2" as an employee of the joint venture — a reference to Africa Management.
Although Sexwale’s Mvelaphanda appears to have withdrawn from the joint venture due to Reserve Bank strictures‚ Mvelaphanda CEO Mark Willcox stayed on as Africa Management CEO.
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