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Investigation
By Tyler Durden
Created 03/25/2016 - 20:00
[1]
Submitted by Tyler Durden [1] on 03/25/2016 20:00 -0400
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, [15]
Just weeks before Blackwater guards fatally shot 17 civilians at Baghdads Nisour
Square in 2007, the State Department began investigating the security contractors
operations in Iraq. But the inquiry was abandoned after Blackwaters top manager
there issued a threat: that he could kill the governments chief investigator and
no one could or would do anything about it as we were in Iraq, according to
department reports.
From the post: New York Times Reports Blackwater Threatened to Kill a State
Dept. Official and the U.S. Government Did Nothing [16]
A little over two years ago, I published a post titled, How Erik Prince, Founder of
Blackwater, Will Help China Subjugate Africa [17]. Heres what we learned at the time:
Shares of DVN Holdings, controlled by Hong Kong businessman Johnson Ko Chunshun and state-owned Citic Group, surged 7.3 per cent after it appointed Erik Prince
former owner of controversial US security firm Blackwater as chairman, and
granted him more share options.
Prince last November sold to DVN a company that plans to build a pan-Africa
provider of aviation, logistics, risk management, security services and exploration
support services, needed by many Chinese businesses active in Africa. He received
US$3 million plus the first batch of options.
Prince has logistics, aviation, manufacturing, resources and energy business
interests in Africa, the Middle East and North America, and is the founder of Frontier
Resource Group, a private equity firm active in African aviation, exploration, mining
and logistics, DVN said.
The firm subsequently paid US$42 million in fines for hundreds of violations of US
export rules, to avoid criminal charges, The New York Times reported.
The writing was on the wall back then, and it appears the Department of Justice has finally
picked up on the shadiness of it all.
Earlier today, The Intercept published [18] a detailed account of the ongoing investigation
into Americas number one mercenary, Erik Prince. Here are a few excerpts:
Erik Prince, founder of the now-defunct mercenary firm Blackwater and current
chairman of Frontier Services Group, is under investigation by the U.S. Department
of Justice and other federal agencies for attempting to broker military services to
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mercenary, said the source. Hes off the rails exposing many U.S. citizens to criminal
liabilities. Erik hides in the shadows and uses [FSG] for legitimacy.
I get that FSG claims no part in this, but seriously, what did you expect when you went into
business with this guy? Its not as if his past was some big secret.
The Libyan proposal, reviewed by The Intercept, was code-named Operation Lima. It
offered the Libyans an array of military equipment and services including weaponized
vehicles, helicopters, boats, and surveillance airplanes to help stabilize eastern Libya.
The ground force, according to a person involved with the plan, would consist of a troop of
former Australian special operations commandos. Given the instability of the government
and Princes inability to navigate complex Libyan factions to vet potential partners, he had
trouble finding the right power brokers to help sell the proposal.
Money laundering for Libyan officials using a Chinese bank that is the issue that
pushed it over the edge for the Justice Department, said the second former intelligence
official.
The U.S. spies monitoring Prince soon discovered that he had traveled to the Chinesecontrolled peninsula of Macau in an effort to open a bank account, according to two people
familiar with the investigation. A well-connected source within the Macau banking
community told The Intercept that Prince first attempted to open an account at the Macau
branch of a European-connected bank, but was denied after a review by the banks
European headquarters.
Later, Prince traveled to Beijing, where he met with Chinese agents from the Ministry of
State Security, according to the second former intelligence official and a source familiar
with the meeting.
In January, Prince returned to Macau and opened an account at the Bank of China,
according to several sources, including the second former intelligence official and the
source with close connections to Macaus banking community.
It was not a personal account, said the former U.S. intelligence official briefed on the
investigation. He was doing it for the purpose of what is considered now in the
investigation money laundering on behalf of the Libyans.
Toensing, Princes lawyer, confirmed that Prince successfully opened an account with the
Bank of China. He opened an account on behalf of a business, she said. Toensing
declined to say for which business he opened the account, but said that it complied with
U.S. banking regulations. This is not an FSG bank account, a spokesperson for FSG told
The Intercept.
While Princes re-invented Libya border security proposal was framed as a means of
stopping migration, sources with knowledge of Princes business strategy allege that he
had greater ambitions in that country. One person involved in Princes plan said the antimigration force was seen as a vehicle for Prince to build a backdoor for so-called kinetic,
or lethal, operations in Libya a form of mercenary mission-creep. During the day, you
do interdiction of migrants not kinetic, said the person involved in the plan. But those
routes are used by weapons smugglers and drug traffickers at night. Insurgents too. Eriks
guys can then be offered to the Libyans to help with their other problems. Thats how you
get kinetic.
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The plan called for a series of border security bases housing intelligence centers,
helicopters, surveillance airplanes, and weaponized vehicles. Prince proposed a fully
equipped, contemporary military force to be staffed in part by foreign mercenaries.
Among the concerns of government investigators is that Princes attempts to provide
defense-related services to Libya and other countries violate U.S. defense export
regulations. Under federal law, U.S. citizens seeking to offer military services or
technologies to Libya must have a license certifying that the services or articles are
approved under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR. Many of these
services and articles are designed to kill people or defend against killing people, said
John Barker, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for export controls. To protect
U.S. national security and foreign policy as well as that of its allies, the U.S. requires prior
authorization.
An FSG official said the company did not know if Prince obtained a license for his activities
in Libya, but noted that he did not have one in his capacity as FSGs chairman. One of
Princes Libya proposals reviewed by The Intercept lists FSG as the commercial
vendor for the project.
Prince has run up against ITAR in the past. In 2010, Prince sold most of his equity in the
companies that fell under the Blackwater umbrella. Claiming that left-wing activists,
Democratic politicians, and lawsuits had destroyed his companies, he left the United
States and became a resident of Abu Dhabi. The remnant of his network was renamed
Academi LLC. Federal prosecutors eventually attempted to prosecute Princes former
companies, culminating in a 2012 deferred prosecution agreement to settle a lengthy
list of U.S. legal and regulatory violations committed from 2005 through 2008 when Prince
was in charge, including ITAR violations.
A senior official involved with the Blackwater-related litigation, who has since left
the government, told The Intercept that the Obama administrations continued
willingness to award contracts to former Blackwater entities while the case was
active was a fatal impediment to a successful prosecution. The official, comparing the
former Blackwater empire to a drug syndicate, added that prosecutors could not get
anyone under Prince to testify against him personally. This is very much the concern, the
former official told The Intercept. You push the buttons on the company, but the main bad
guy gets away and does it again.
Remarkable. Mr. Liberal Obama was cheerfully awarding Erik Prince and Blackwater
corporate offshoots government contracts despite an ongoing investigation.
No criminal charges were filed against Prince.
In federal court filings, Princes former companies admitted to providing on
numerous occasions during Princes tenure defense goods and services to
foreign governments without the required State Department licensing. In some
cases, they admitted to providing services even after failing to obtain a license from
the State Department.
As part of their settlement with the government, Princes companies ultimately agreed to
pay nearly $50 million in fines and other penalties and to implement compliance
procedures to ensure such illegal activities did not continue. In September 2015, the
deferred charges were dismissed after the U.S. government certified that the companies
had fully complied with all of its conditions.
Right, because fining a mercenary sociopath is such an effective deterrent. This is what
you get when you use deferred prosecutions on these people. They get right back at it.
Same exact thing happened with the banks. The U.S. justice department is not just
worthless, its dangerous.
At that point, Prince was already deep into creating new companies registered
outside of the United States and appeared poised to return to the conduct that had
marked his time at the helm of Blackwater.
An internal document from Princes inner circle, reviewed by The Intercept, shows his
team openly discussing the need to avoid U.S. and international defense export
regulations and to mask the involvement of Prince and his cohort in efforts to provide
mercenary services and military equipment to foreign governments. Erik is always
pressing the limits as to what is possible, said the close associate of Princes.
According to multiple sources familiar with Princes activities, as well as documents
reviewed by The Intercept, Prince is considering an invitation to speak at a conference
later this month in China sponsored by the countrys main domestic security organization,
the Ministry of Public Security.
Internally, FSG executives determined that any presentations by the companys U.S.
citizen personnel at the conference could potentially violate U.S. laws against providing
defense advice to China. Smith issued a directive that no U.S. personnel from FSG were
authorized to attend. Erik Prince, Smith told his staff, would need to make his own
decision.
Theres only one way to stop a guy like this lock him up.
For once, do your job Department of Justice.
[7] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/11121
[8] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/11126
[9] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/11981
[10] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/303
[11] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/11285
[12] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/10704
[13] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/240
[14] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/12112
[15] http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2016/03/24/americas-top-rogue-mercenary-blackwaterserik-prince-is-under-federal-investigation/
[16] http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2014/06/30/new-york-times-reports-blackwater-threatenedto-kill-a-state-dept-official-and-the-u-s-government-did-nothing/
[17] http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2014/01/15/how-erik-price-founder-of-blackwater-will-helpchina-subjugate-africa/
[18] https://theintercept.com/2016/03/24/blackwater-founder-erik-prince-under-federalinvestigation/