{UAH} Dan Gertler earns billions as mine deals fail to enrich Congo - The Washington Post

Gertler's love affair with Congo began in 1997, when the country was one of the world's top five producers of diamonds. That May, insurgents led by Laurent Kabila, the father of the current president, overthrew the corrupt regime of Mobutu Sese Seko, a U.S. ally who had ruled for 32 years. 

A few days later, Shlomo Bentolila, chief rabbi of Kinshasa's Chabad-Lubavitch center, arranged for the young diamond merchant to meet Kabila's son Joseph, the new army chief, at the InterContinental hotel, Gertler said.

The two clicked, he recalled. Both carried a heavy responsibility: Kabila was the commander of thousands of troops, and Gertler was trading $2 billion of diamonds annually, he said. 

One day, Kabila suggested that Gertler meet the president. Laurent needed money to fight his war and offered Gertler a monopoly on Congo's diamond sales, he said. Kabila asked for $20 million in cash. 

Gertler agreed.

He was back in Israel celebrating the deal when the Congolese president called. He needed the money immediately. Using a mix of bank credit, inheritance, cash reserves and liquidated stocks, Gertler said he scraped together the payment and sent it to the Swiss account of Congo's central bank. Gertler had bet his fortune on a president at war.

The risks became evident in January 2001, when a bodyguard shot Laurent Kabila dead and his son took power. 

Role as envoy

The young president needed friends: When he took over, vast swaths of the country were under the control of rebel factions backed by Uganda and Rwanda.

Kabila asked Gertler to help woo U.S. support to bolster his position as leader and start peace talks with his neighbors.

In April 2002, Gertler said, he secretly shuttled between Washington, Kinshasa and Kigali, Rwanda, relaying letters between Kabila and Rice. Jendayi Frazer, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, said Gertler's intervention was instrumental to talks that resulted in a peace accord. "He was serious and credible," Frazer said.

As Kabila cemented his hold on power, Gertler expanded beyond diamonds into mining of other minerals and metals.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/dan-gertler-earns-billions-as-mine-deals-fail-to-enrich-congo/2012/12/27/c37d0100-4e31-11e2-8b49-64675006147f_story.html

Sincerely,

Brian M. Kwesiga