Israeli Mining Mogul Dan Gertler Cited For Congo ‘Corruption’

Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler is the owner of multiple African diamond mines. Image by YouTube

By Nathan Guttman December 21, 2017

The United States announced Wednesday a new round of sanctions under the Magnitsky Act which targets individuals involved in global human rights abuses and corruption.

This year’s report, issued by the U.S. Treasury, adds, for the first time, an Israeli citizen to the list: Dan Gertler, a mining billionaire who made his fortune in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is known for his close ties with president Joseph Kabila. Gertler, according to the report, “amassed his fortune through hundreds of millions of dollars of opaque and corrupt mining and oil deals” in DRC.

Gertler, 43, began his career in the family diamond business based in Israel and quickly expanded into mining and natural resource development in Africa. He grew up in a secular family but became Orthodox in his 20s and is now a major donor to Orthodox causes.

He has been accused of using his high-level ties in DRC to take over the impoverished country’s natural resources at a fraction of their real cost.

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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