A supporter of President Barack Obama who serves as a trade adviser has been accused by the United Nations of buying millions of dollars in gold from a wanted African warlord.

 

Kase Lawal, a Nigerian-born oil tycoon who serves as chairman and chief executive of the Houston-based oil firm Camac, was appointed by Obama in September 2010 to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN). A few months later, Lawal cut a deal with rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to a report by the UN’s Group of Experts on the DRC. Lawal had previously served on African trade advisory committees during the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. His name has been quietly removed from the list of members of the ACTPN.

 

Lawal’s dealings with Ntaganda represent a violation of UN resolutions banning individuals and organizations from financing illegal armed groups in the eastern DRC.

 

Ntaganda is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of smuggling natural resources, recruiting child soldiers and presiding over mass rapes and murder of civilians by the troops of his militia, the National Congress for the Defense of the People.

 

Lawal has contributed substantially to Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, donating $36,500 to date, as well as another $71,800 to other Democratic campaigns.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Obama-Appointed US Trade Adviser Linked To Illegal Deal In Congolese Gold (by Pete Jones, The Guardian)

UN Catches Obama Donor in Congo Gold Smuggling Scheme (by Georgianne Nienaber, OpEd News)

United Nations Security Council Report Relating to Kase Lawal (pdf)